


Lacrosse...?

by AlvinKoopa



Category: Lacrosse RPF, Teen Wolf (TV), Teen Wolf (TV) RPF
Genre: Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-19
Updated: 2015-03-27
Packaged: 2018-03-18 15:12:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 26,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3574316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlvinKoopa/pseuds/AlvinKoopa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You're Ryland, you recently moved from your old school over to Beacon Hills, hoping to have a new start with you and your mother. Thing is, you didn't know you moved to one of the most supernatural places in the world. A million different places you could have moved to, yet you chose this. Coincidence? I think not...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First Day

**Author's Note:**

> This book is quite long, each chapter is quite long and I'm hoping you actually read it till the end. You're going to enjoy it! :)
> 
> Nonetheless, it's a story about you. You play a character called Ryland Calix, he's moved over to Beacon Hills due to some complications that rose from his life at his old school. You're a pretty smart student, you love to read, but sometimes making friends isn't your strong suit. You don't like to approach people, you're more of the, approachable type. 
> 
> Lacrosse however, is your sport, and, it's what gives you the edge in life. 
> 
> "If you got it, flaunt it babe." - Dylan O'Brien, SDCC 2014
> 
> Just a side note to anyone who hasn't watched Teen Wolf.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Spoilers
> 
> If you're in the midst of watching Teen Wolf and still haven't finished, please don't read from this point onwards.
> 
>  
> 
> The Werewolves are: Liam Dunbar and Scott McCall  
> The Thunder Kitsune is: Kira Yukimura  
> The Banshee is: Lydia Martin  
> Stiles is there as he's the brains of most of the projects and the things they do. Let's just say, Stiles, Stiles's Dad and Scott's Mum are the only ones who know about who everyone truly is. 
> 
> Ok. Now read. Enjoy. Hope you like it!! :)

I'm not the type of person who moves schools and fits in instantaneously. As a matter of fact, I rarely am. I'm the type of person, who takes ages to make new friends but this time, this time it was different. The only difference being, I made friends in a flash, I joined a sports team and had a clique and this school, Beacon Hills, has truly changed me. I owe my happiness to Lacrosse. It all started with lacrosse...

It was the night before school. I got my bag packed and everything was ready for the big day. I had to admit though, I was rather scared and nervous. I had no clue if school here, was going to be any different from where I came from. I decided to ignore the constant anxiety in the back of my mind and just try to sleep. Just as I was about to flick the lights off, I heard howling from outside my window. It was awfully loud, a bit more like a roar than a howl. I got off of bed and walked towards the window. I looked out, the woods were really quiet. My mum loves nature and the peacefulness of living in nature so she bought this cabin somewhere in the forest. I personally didn't mind it, but it just felt like I was always away from society which gave the constant impression that I was isolated in life. It made making friends harder than usual. Anyway, it was pitch black outside, I started to squint my eyes, I tried my best to see into the dark. I pictured out two glowing eyes. Similar width to ones of a human, but they glowed an orange-yellow tinge. It was, lack of a better word, terrifying. I decided to ignore it, I was really tired and probably wasn't thinking straight. I crawled back into bed and turned off the lights.

Finally, it was my first day at school, didn't really know anyone, didn't really talk to anyone. I just felt awkward. I was walking around the campus, did I mention it was massive? Well yeah, it's big. I looked around, everyone was so cheerful and happy, I was too scared to approach anyone, I was too scared to talk to anyone. I kept walking and kept my head down. I really didn't need the attention, I didn't want to make a fool of myself on the first day. I heard a lot of laughing and talking behind me, I turned around and I saw the lacrosse team. Beacon Hills Lacrosse is one of the best teams in the area. Their team captain, Scott McCall is a legend along with his best friends Stiles Stilinksi and Liam Dunbar. The three owned the pitch.

I used to play lacrosse for my old school, until they were disbanded. It was a year ago when I made that stupid move. I should have passed the ball to Jack, I was so stubborn and selfish. I wanted the glory and I wasted it. It was the last 5 seconds, that goal would have let us win but no, I let my guard down and tripped on the grass. That was the point when I knew, it was all over. After that one game, my reputation plummeted. My coach was so disappointed, he gave up on lacrosse and ended the team. It destroyed me. I was the team captain for 2 years, and one stupid move ended it for me. I still hate myself till this day. I let my team down, I let my school down, and worst of all, I let my coach down. He had such high hopes for me, he let me stay captain for four years running. He was like a father figure to me. Something I haven't had for 7 years, when my dad died. School was horrible after that day as well. I used to get high-fives in the hallways and so many faces would smile back at me, but now. All I get are snarly comments and degrading looks back at me. It was horrible. My self esteem dropped and my anxiety levels rocketed sky high. My grades slowly fell and my life, in pieces. My mother was worried for me and decided it was time to take action. She knew how much lacrosse meant to me, and decided to send me to a school with the highest standing in lacrosse players, and that's right where I landed. Beacon Hills High School.

I walked through the tall doors. The jocks were dribbling in the hallways, it was so loud, you could hear the pounding on the floor, the smashing of the locker doors and the clack's of high heels on the concrete floor. I missed the sound, I missed it so much. I didn't have school for two months and hearing all these familiar sounds put a smile to my face. In a way, I was glad to be back in school, it felt good, I felt normal. I shoved my hand in my pocket rummaging for my timetable. I pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper.  _Great_. First lesson had to be maths. It's not that I was bad at it, it's just so repetitive and boring. I looked around for any signs directing to my classroom,  _I'm so going to be late_. The hallways emptied out instantly as the bell rang. Everyone was gone and there was no one to ask. I felt like I was going to faint.  _I'm saved!_  I thought to myself as I saw someone tall, he wore a red varsity jacket. "Excuse me?" I yelled. "I'm new here and I was wondering if you could help me out a bit?"  
He turns around to face me.  _Crap_... He isn't a student. "What's your name?" he asked in a gruff tone.   
"I... I'm Ryland.... Ryland Calix... I moved here from Island High. Could you point me in the right direction?"  
"You're Ryland? You were team captain for your school weren't you?" He said with a rise in interest.  
"Hah.. hah... Yeah I am." I hoped he didn't know about any of my failures.  
"Here, follow me, I'll take you to your class. I'm the coach by the way."   
As we walked we talked about lacrosse. He has a very strong interest in my joining the team. It seemed like he didn't know about what happened in Island.   
"So.. I heard your schools lacrosse team got disbanded? You must be really mad about that." He said.  
"Hah... Yeah sorta. Lacrosse was my main sport and I loved it."  
"We have tryouts today after school if you're willing to come along. We have some spare gear that we can lend you for the time being."  
"Yeah sure! That would actually be pretty cool. I'd like that thanks!" My confidence started to grow, I could feel that this school wouldn't be as bad as I had expected.  
"Well, glad you're interested. Here's your classroom, and I'll see you after school in the locker room."  
I gave him a smile and opened the door. It creaked very loudly. Everyone in the room turned to look at me. I could feel a million eyes on me, it was somewhat horrifying.   
"Ah! You must be Ryland! Welcome welcome! Find a seat, we're doing Algebra. Oh and I'm Ms Fleming, I'll be your math teacher for the coming years."  
I cracked a smile and turned to look towards the room frantically trying to find a seat. Thankfully I found one, but it was in front of Liam. He gives me a wave and tells me to sit there. I got all giddy and happy and I walked over towards the seat. He pulled the seat with his feet, I laid my bag on the ground and sat down. "Thanks!" I say to Liam. I left my voice quiver, it's really nerve-wrecking to be this close to one of the best players in the school.   
Ms Fleming turned and started to write on the board. Just as she began to talk, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Liam. "Soo... Which school did you come from?" He asked.   
"Umm.. I came from Island High.." I said as my voice started to shake. I was really paranoid about anyone knowing about my life back in Island. I was hoping that moving schools could be a fresh start for me. I didn't want my troubles to transfer from one school to another.  
"Oh! I heard they disbanded their lacrosse team last year. They were pretty good. I knew their captain kicked ass!"   
"I was the captain heh..."   
He looked at me with an instant interest in my life. Before he could talk, I started again.   
"Yeah, the team was disbanded, our coach was devastated."  
Before Liam could start Ms Fleming walked over.   
"Ryland, I know you're new and you want to start making friends, but that can wait ok?"  
Oh  _Jesus_. In trouble already. Something I didn't want to happen. "Oh gosh I'm so sorry. Yeah I understand, leave the talking for later." I said with embarrassment written all over my face.   
"Glad we're on the same page. Get up, solve that for x" she said with a smirk on her face.  
_Greaaaat_... This will be fun. I walked up to the board, chalk in hand. I looked at the question, and started mumbling under my breath. "Well if.... is negative.... X is .... this does ...... X is 14"   
"Good job Ryland!" she said with a big smile on her face. I could tell she was genuinely proud of me. I walked back towards my seat and Liam had his thumbs up. I could see him mouthing  _good job_  to me. I liked this school already, it was great.  _This is going to be a good year_  I thought to myself.

Lesson was finally over. I stuffed everything back into my bag and just as I was about to get up, Liam grabbed my arm. "Do you have a free period?" He asks.  
"Umm. yeah I think I do.. What are they?" I asked with a confused look on my face.  
"Oh! They're just time for you to self study. But considering you're a genius at maths. Let's hang by the benches. We should get to know each other a bit more don't you think?"  
I cracked a smile and nodded my head. He walked me out of the building and onto the benches by the rugby field. We sat down on the stands.   
"Soo." he slurs. "Why did you come to Beacon Hills?"   
My stomach froze.  _Should I lie? Should I tell him the truth? Could I trust him?_  I went with my gut and told him everything. If I wanted to make friends, I better start with trusting them. "A year ago I made a stupid mistake. I made a selfish play and cost my team the game. After that, My life in school went downhill. My reputation dropped, my grades fell and I wasn't really happy anymore. So my mum wanted to do something about it, so we took a break from school and when the time was right, I joined you guys."  
"Oohh.... Hey! Don't worry about it ok! Everyone makes mistakes, just, your school seemed a bit, strict and over the top if I say so myself."   
"Yeah I guess..." I could tell he was trying to reassure me and comfort me. It was really sweet of him. "Ok enough of me. I have a question. Last night, before I slept I heard this howling. I thought it was because I lived in the woods but then when I looked out. I saw two yellow eyes, staring right back into me in the distance. It was really scary! Do you know anything about it?" I finished my question and looked up at him. I felt his tension, he was stressed. I said something wrong. I know I did.   
"Ummm... I've never..." He was stopped midway just as a rugby ball flew towards me. I thought it was going to hit me, but.. he caught it.. Liam caught the ball, seconds before it hit me. How... I slowly opened my eyes, and there, right in front of me, Liam's eyes glowed, They glowed the exact same colour as the eyes I saw in the woods.   
"Liam...." I said in a rise in volume. "Your eyes..... Your eyes are.... glowing..... They're glowing. LIAM. THEY'RE GLOWING"

He instantly turns his face the other way as he threw the ball back onto the pitch. His eyes, they were the exact same shade from last night. Was he in the woods? I really wanted to ask but before I could he turns back round and his eyes are back to normal. He looks me straight and said "Hey Ryland.. I think you should get some sleep when you get home. All that moving around and unpacking everything, and not to mention, you look really sleep deprived.."   
"Yeah I think so too.... I really should get some sleep. After all. I did just move here two days ago. I didn't really get much at all, spent all my time packing and prepping the house." I replied quickly but deep down I knew something was up. He was hiding something from me, but to be perfectly honest, he's probably doing it to prevent me from further harm. I decided not to think about it too much. I'll just leave it be. I changed the topic and went onto lacrosse.   
"So... How long have you played lacrosse for?" I asked with a smile on my face.  
"Ermm... For around two years. I was taught by my dad when I played for my old school, Devenford Prep. After that Scott took over and carried on with my training. He's a great mentor and an amazing captain. It's really awesome learning from him. The tips and the tricks. Now that you mention it. Where did you learn how to play lacrosse?"  
"Let me see... When I joined Island. I felt like I needed an extracurricular activity, something to keep my mind off the death of my father. My old coach has a strange liking towards me and he taught me all he knew. From there I got better and better, and lacrosse became my sport."  
"Oh god dude. I'm so sorry! I didn't know about your dad.." He was genuinely sorry for me, he looked so sad and distraught.   
"Liam! Don't worry about it! It's been so many years already. It doesn't matter anymore. it doesn't affect me as it used to before."   
"Well that's good. Say, what was like back in Island. Did you have a girl?   
"Ummm.. I had a boyfriend...." My cheeks flushed red. I felt so embarrassed to say it. I didn't know if he would be okay with it...  
"That's cute! What was his name?"  
_Omg._  I'm so relieved. "His name was Aleks. We dated for a year but broke it off as he had to leave the country. He moved to Hong Kong if I remember correctly... I mean we tried long distance but it never seems to work out doesn't it.."  
"Long distance never works. It's actually a lot of effort and a lot of time has to be put into it. I personally feel like it's a waste of time."  
"I'd have to agree with you." We felt more relaxed during this conversation. I really didn't want to break this friendship. It's my first friend here and I couldn't afford to lose it. It meant so much to me.   
We stayed a while longer at the benches. Just talking about daily life and what my world was back in Island. He was interested and intrigued the whole time. I think I genuinely found a friend that I can trust and have, for my whole life and it was a great feeling. First day at school, and already, I've found someone I could call friend. Someone I could wave to every morning and someone I could pass letters to in class. It was great and I really couldn't have asked for anything better than this.

My free period was over. We walked to our next class, chemistry.  _My favourite_! I loved chemistry, it's a great subject, sort of like a mix of both Biology and Physics, a good combination of the two. Mr Takei, our chemistry teacher set us in pairs. Sadly I wasn't with Liam. He got paired with Scott. Instead I got paired with a student called Akira. However, she likes to be called Kira.   
"Hi! My names Akira, but you can call me Kira. I've heard you moved here from Island?" she said in a chuffed tone.   
"Yeah I did, how did you know?"  
"Oh my dad works here as a history teacher. He told me a new kid, you, would be joining most of my classes. We have history, chemistry, maths and a few other lessons together as well."  
"That's awesome!"  _Did I make a new friend again?_  Everyone here seems so friendly. They're all so nice! "Thanks mum" I whisper under my breath. She made an amazing choice of school. Mr Takei took attendance and started the lesson. We were working on further organic chemistry. My best topic. I would have paid attention in class but I couldn't concentrate. I had my mind fixated into the tryouts after school. I was really looking forward to getting back into lacrosse, and hopefully making the team. I mean, I didn't need to be captain, I just wanted to be in a team, I wanted to play my sport again, I wanted to go back to my normal routines. You actually can't comprehend how much I missed it and boy was I excited. I just started to daydream when I was interrupted.   
"Mr. Calix! Is there something on your mind? Something that you would like to share?" he said, quite angrily in fact. Just before I was about to respond with some stupid excuse Kira interrupted and answered for me.  
"Mr Takei, really sorry. Ryland has had a tough day, he just moved here and he's just trying to familiarize himself with the school's layout and his lesson plan." she said.  
"Is that so Kira? Well, then you better take good care of your new friend. The school's rather big." he said with a sly tone in his voice. I could feel the anger, he was pissed. He turned around to carry on writing equations on the board. I really didn't want to have a bad impression on Mr. Takei, after all, chemistry is one of my best and favorite subjects, I didn't want him to hate me already.   
"Hey Kira? Thanks for that! I didn't expect anyone to stand up for me. Not when I'm the new kid.. I really appreciate it!" I said with a quiver in my tone. I was so happy, I didn't expect anything from anyone, and even if I did, not to this level!   
"Friends have each others backs. You would do the same for me, so I will too!"  
I let off a chuckle. "Haha. If I could think as fast as you yeah, I definitely got your back."  
She giggled back at me and turned to face the board again.   
"Ok so, from the handouts you've received, I want you in your pairs to conduct this experiment. The pair that collects the highest yield of product, will get a prize." explained Mr Takei.  
"What's the prize?" a student said jokingly.  
"Hmm.. You won't have to do the quiz the following week. Deal?"  
The whole class nodded and instantly got to work.  
"Ryland. Do you know what to do? I'm so confused." Kira asked in a concerned manner. She was so lucky she got paired with me. This was an experiment I've done a million times before back in Island.   
"Don't worry about it. I've done this before! We're gonna win that prize, just you wait!" I said.   
When the experiment was over, Mr Takei walked around the class to find the pair who produced the highest yield of product. He walked towards us and his face went into shock.  _Did I do it wrong?_   _Did I fail Kira?_    
"Well done Mr Calix and Ms Yukimura. You're the only one in the class who got a yield higher than 80%. For your effort and skill, you won't have to do the quiz next week. Congratulations!" he says. I felt like I just redeemed myself. I'm not the 'daydreamer' anymore. He wrote the quiz topics on the board and let us out of the classroom.

Kira took me out and we headed to history together. I didn't care about class at this stage. I was too fixated on lacrosse tryouts after school. I took a seat behind Kira and stared out the window, onto the pitch. Beacon Hills has one of the largest lacrosse pitches in the world. It's beautiful and it's actually always been a dream of mine to play on this pitch. Play with the best of the best, well against them at least.   
"Mr Calix, since you  _clearly_  have your book open. Can you tell me the date in which the Cold War started and ended?" he asked as his head was tilted to the side.   
"Ermm... It started in 1945, after World War II and ended in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union." I answered with a smirk.   
"Nice one Mr Calix. Now get your book open."  
"Yes Ms Robertson"   
I felt confident in my classes, I knew practically everything that was happening and classes were a breeze. I tried not to think about what the teachers thought of me. It was my first day, it was hectic, I just wanted to settle down and get used to everything here.   
"Nice save." whispered Kira.   
I gave her a wink and grabbed the books out of my bag. The Cold War's an interesting topic, I remember from reading a few weeks ago that during the Cold War, the C.I.A. made a pornographic video featuring a lookalike of the Indonesian President in an attempt to discredit him. I loved studying the Cold War, it's a topic that never bores me. There are so many interesting and mind boggling facts that you come across, not in class but only with further reading. That's why I love to read, you learn so much more than what school teaches you and most of the time, what you learn is so much more interesting than what's in class. Ms Robertson went through the time line and the major happenings of the Cold War. Slowly and surely my mind was gone again.

I thought back to the days when I played lacrosse back in Island High. It was one of the most enjoyable times of being there. I had an amazing team behind me, a loving coach and a school that was so supportive of all that we did. Our school were running champions, for quite a long time in fact. I carried on that legacy for 2 more years, but sadly, I too, ruined that legacy. My heart began to drop thinking about it. I started to get nervous about tryouts.  _What if I did well, but ruined Beacon Hills in competitions? What if I became captain, and brought the schools reputation down?_  I started to sweat and shake. Kira turned to look at me and she looked really concerned. I could see her trying to say something but I really coudn't hear what was happening. I started the breath deeply and quickly, I started to shake. My vision started to be blurry and everyone started to look at me. I still couldn't hear, I could only feel my heart pounding, louder and louder and louder. Someone grabbed me on the arm and pulled me out of the classroom. I stumbled around the hallways and ended in the locker room. I kept shaking and shivering, I couldn't stop myself. I felt arms wrapping around me, my heart slowed down, my vision came back. I could hear someone saying "It's ok, calm down, it's ok I'm here. Don't worry I got you! Don't worry... Don't worry..."   
I started to regulate my breathing and leant my back onto the lockers. I slowly opened my eyes and I saw Liam staring straight back at me.   
"Th.. Th... Thank." he put his finger on my lip and stopped me.  
"Don't worry about it. Just breath, calm down. Sit tight, I'll get you some water ok?"  
I nodded and he left the room.  _I haven't had panic attacks in a very long time. Why now?_  God I felt like such an embarrassment. I placed hands on my face and I started to cry. I felt so worthless, so fragile. My first day of school, and this is what happens.   
Liam walks back into the room with his water bottle in hand. "I told Ms Robertson what happened and she told me to take care of you and here, have some water."  
"But... but it's yours..."  
"I'm not sick, if that's what you're wondering."  
"No... I didn't... mean..."  
"Hahaha! I'm kidding! Just drink some, it'll help." he said with a pleasant smile.  
He pulled the tab and I took a few sips. It was really refreshing and the coldness of the water really calmed me down.   
"Better?" he asked.  
"Much... Thank you.."  
He gave me a smile and sat down beside me. He let out a sigh.  
"Glad you're feeling better. By the way, don't worry about embarrassment. A lot of kids here get panic attacks, me included. You're not alone okay? You have me, you have Kira, and you're going to make a lot of new friends. I have a feeling the lacrosse team is gonna like you. Especially Stiles and Scott. They're like family to me, and they're going to be the same for you. I can sense it." He gave me a wink and then a smirk.   
I returned a friendly sigh of relief. "I'm so worried about making friends. I'm so lucky to have met you and Kira. I just, don't know about anyone else."  
"Dude. The lacrosse team is super cool and so are Kira's friends. Lydia is someone you've got to meet, she's the smartest person in the school. I think you could you match her on a pop quiz."   
"Hahaha! I just read a lot man. I'm not smart, I have a good memory." I said while trying to stop my red from turning red. I haven't had many compliments from other students ever since the lacrosse incident. It was good to hear some now.   
"Ready to go back to class?"  
"Yeah let's go. Don't want to miss out too much."  
He helped me up and we walked back out of the door, into the hallway and back into the classroom. he put my bags down beside my chair and walked back towards his seat. I said my thanks and the remainder of the lesson dragged on.

Just as the lesson was about to end Ms Robertson told Kira and Liam to take me home a few minutes earlier to just to make sure everything was alright. They agreed to do so and we left class a few minutes earlier, while doing so bumping into Lydia just outside the room.   
"Speak of the devil! Lydia, this is Ryland. Ryland this is my best friend Lydia!" Kira said cheerfully.   
"Oh hi. Nice to meet you Ryland." Lydia said with her hand extended.  
"Hey! It's nice to meet you too!." as I shook her hand. She has one heck of a grip. A nice firm grip. She's the formal type isn't she, academics and such.   
"Well. I would stay and chat but I've got to head off to my meeting. I'll catch you guys later. Maybe on the field if this meeting doesn't last too long!" as she walked down the hallway.   
"Bye Lydiaaa!!" Kira screamed as Lydia walked into the room to her right. "Ah I love this girl. She's my favorite person." Kira giggled to herself.   
"So Ryland. You going to lacrosse tryouts?" Liam asked me.  
"Yeah dude! I wouldn't miss it for the world!"   
"Awesome! Kira you gonna be at the stands? Scott's trying out for captain again." he said as he turned to face Kira.   
"Yeah of course. Not gonna let my boyfriend bathe in the all the glory himself now am I?"  
We all let out a chuckle and walked over to the locker rooms together.

Liam and I walked into the locker rooms while Kira went a separate way towards the stands. The locker room was full already. The team was getting changed and getting ready. Liam saw Scott and Stiles and pulled me towards what they called their little 'corner'. He told me to stay put as he walked over to coach to ask for some spare gear.  _He's such a good friend, so lucky I found someone like him to help me through school_. In a way he reminded me of my good friend back in Island. I kinda missed a lot of my friends back there. I don't know if they still thought of me as friends but I'm just going to stay positive. Didn't really want to break out into a sweat again.   
"You're Ryland right? Captain of Island High's lacrosse team? Nice to meet you! I'm Stiles and this is Scott." Stiles said as he pulled up a peace sign with his fingers. Okay...   
"Yup! When we had a lacrosse team that is haha." Scott seemed a bit anti-social. He just kept putting on his gear and didn't really seem to notice me at all. "Is Scott alright? He seems a bit disturbed by something."  
"HAHA! Don't worry about him, he's just in the 'zone'. He really wants to keep his captain status for the lacrosse team." He leaned in closer towards my ear. "This is between me and you but I feel like he's a bit intimidated of you, we all heard you're amazing on the field."   
"Good god no! I would never. I can't try for captain. I honestly don't feel like I can handle the responsibility."  
"You don't have to hide it. Liam told us what happened at Island and you know what, that sh*t's the past, you don't have to worry about it anymore. We're all in the now, and all we got to do is do our best, and play our best. Nothing else."  
"Gee thanks haha!"  _Why is everyone so nice... Is this a plot to ruin my life later?_  I had a million thoughts going through my mind, I just decided to ignore it. I got pretty good at suppressing thoughts, I had enough practice last year. Soon enough the coach walks over with a great big smile on your face.   
"Ryland! You're here! I knew it!!" he blurted. He gave me a pat on my back. More like a smack, that's a hand print that's never going to leave. "So glad you're here. Just remember, the captains position is open! It's open, for everyone!." He turned around and stepped up on a bench.   
"Listen up everyone, it's a new year, some familiar faces, some new faces but I'd just like to welcome everyone to the lacrosse team tryouts. Beacon Hills has had a history of amazing plays and for holding one of the longest winning streaks that the world has seen to date! We're in the tryouts, all the roles are open and open to everyone! So let's get out on that field and do our bests! Don't stop when you are tired, stop when you are done. Stop when you've reached your goal. Now gear up, and let's get on that pitch and play your hardest. Remember, lets keep it clean out there!" he bellowed. He stepped back down onto the ground, passed me my gear and walked out of the room.   
"Ryland, I'm gonna go out with Scott now, see you on the pitch yeah?"  
"Cool." I said putting on my gear. Liam walks over and offers to help lock me in place, he somehow knew that I haven't been in gear for ages.   
"Here, let me do that for you." he said gently. He straightened my shoulders and clasped everything into place. "That should do it." He passed me the crosse and the helmet. "Have fun man"  
"You too!" and I walked out of the room.

The field was massive. The spotlights shone brightly onto the bright green pitch. The grass looked so soft and the white paint on the ground was so well defined. It looked fresh and brand new. My level of excitement started to grow, I was getting happier and happier by the second. Just as I was about to start walking around to have a look at the pitch coach yelled at me. "Calix! Put your damn crosse on the ground and join the team. 5 laps around the pitch for everyone! Chop Chop! Keep those knees up. Greenburg! My grandma can run faster than you. Speed it up!"  
I dropped my crosse onto the ground and joined the team with laps. While running these laps, only then you actually notice how large the field actually is. He didn't make us run the inside circle, he made us run outside of the pitch and boy was 5 laps a long long long time. By my fourth lap I started to draw my breath a bit harder but I kept on going, I was here to impress coach, not to make him think of me as a fool. My positive reputation at Island still had a high standing and I wanted to make sure that coach didn't second guess me. It's important that I leave a good impression on him, I didn't necessarily want to be captain, I just wanted to be on the team, to play with my dream team, to play with the best of the best. Ever since I got into lacrosse, this has been a lifelong goal of mine, and being able to make this dream a reality was a great feeling. I looked towards the stands and I saw Kira sitting there, directing Lydia to sit next to her. Coach told us to get into a line and he directed Scott into goal. He swapped out his crosse and walked towards goal. I was near the end of the line and we were having shooting practice. So far, practically no one has scored a goal, Scott caught the balls left and right like it was no big deal. I could see why he's captain every year, it made perfect sense didn't it. I wasn't going to let him catch mine though. Yeah I didn't have much practice, but I never missed a shot back in Island and I'm not planning on letting that end.  _He's gonna get it coming to him._  It was finally my turn, I flicked the ball into the net of the crosse and prepared the shot. I was about to throw the ball as hard as I could, but I thought, he's caught every ball, fast or slow so it might be a better idea to use another tactic. Something my old coach taught me, aim low but shoot high, and fast. I paced myself closer towards the goal and shot. I tried to track the ball until I felt something land on my feet.  _Great.. The ball never left the crosse. Perfect timing Ryland. You messed it up. You messed it up reeal good._  I turned to look at coach and he had his face in his hands. Everyone stared at me and started to laugh. Some of the players at the back were mumbling; "How did he get captain at Island. Are the players there that bad?" I started to fume as I clenched my fist. My face went red with anger.  _No. I'm not taking this,_  I said to myself. I stopped the next player from having his turn and took back the ball. I was going to make it this time.  _That'll teach them._  I stuck to my original tactic. Aim low, shoot high and fast. I arched my arm back over my shoulder and with one swift motion the ball shot straight out of the crosse. To everyone's disbelief, the ball entered the goal. My face lit up, I turned to coach as he had a blank look on his face. His eyes were bulging and his jaw dropped. I broke a smile as Liam and some of the other players started to cheer for me. Scott lift his head up, tilted his head slightly to the side, something like a wolf or a dog. Stiles ran over to Scott and started to talk to him. I couldn't really see or hear what was happening. I shrugged it off and walked to the back of the line, people were patting me on the back and saying congratulations all around. Liam popped out of the line and punched me lightly on the shoulder. "Nice shot man, never expected anyone to get anything through Scott. I see why everyone's scared of you now heh!" he congratulated. I tapped his helmet with mine, gave him a smile and walked to the end of the line. By the time I was there the coach eventually snapped out of it and he gave out a yell. "STILES. SCOTT. PAIR UP! You're playing defenders. Don't let anyone shoot that goal!"   
I've never done training like this before, seemed exciting. I took a step out of line to have a look at what was happening. The first kid Zach ran up with crosse and ball in hand. He started to run towards the defenders, by his physique I could see he was the agile type. He looked like he was going to dodge them but without any notice Scott runs up and whacks him with the crosse. I watched in agony as Zach flew up and back down onto the field. I didn't blink for the next 5 seconds. I was so shocked,  _so much for playing clean._  I didn't notice Liam walking towards me. He flailed his hands in front of my face and gave me a whack.   
"Dude! What was that for?" I groaned.   
"No man.. This was exactly what happened when I first joined the team." Liam stammered.   
"What? What?? What are you talking about?" I was so confused, I didn't understand anything he was saying. I started to rub my arm.  _Why does everyone punch so hard?_  
_"_ When I tried out for the team, coach did the exact same drills. It was my turn and that was the day I broke my ankle after Scott flung me into the air."  
"What? Just like Zach?"  
"Yeah.... Just like Zach... They took me to the hospital and my dad brought me into the room. He took a look and he told me that it would never heal, or even if it did, I would never play lacrosse again.  
"Then how are you playing now?"  
"Well. Something weird happened at the hospital. Everyone left and I heard a lot of noise so I decided to check it out, I walked out of my room and I saw the ceiling lights hanging..." he stopped himself before he could finish. "Ummm.. Sorry I got to ask coach something. I'll be back soon alright?"

_Well that was suspicious. He could have at least finished the story._  Whatever, I decided to stop thinking about it. It was my turn anyway. I started to sweat, it was kinda of nerve wrecking, seeing all the guys fall on their butts or face first into the grass. I mean, I wouldn't expect it to hurt too much, at least it wasn't AstroTurf like it was back in Island. It's just the idea of Scott and Stiles being so aggressive and just nearly killing everyone trying to get past. I just joined, I don't want to die, not yet. I assessed the situation, Scott always stood behind Stiles, just in case he missed any of his tackles. It was a very wolf like thing to do, kind of like what wolves do in their packs. If one wolf failed to do the job, there would always be one to back them up just to make sure the job is done. They'd never leave each other. I have absolutely no clue what to do. I've never seen a play like this in my life, It's so coordinated and so well put. "MOVE IT RYLAND! YOU'RE HOLDING UP THE LINE!" barked Scott. Okay, my time is up, it's now or never. I started to run, and I ran fast, picking up the pace as I veered closer and closer towards Scott and Stiles, they too started to move towards me. I could see the anger in Scott's eyes, it felt and looked like he was going to kill me. He started to lean forwards, ready to pounce at me.  _A bit like a cat don't you think?_  Stiles started to run, he faked a right and swung his crosse towards my head, I crouched and did a little tumble on the ground. I could feel every eye on me, it fueled my determination to make this play count. Scott's head shot up and I could feel the glare, he started to run towards me keeping his body posture low, quite near the ground. We we're about to crash into each other as he leaped forwards, crosse laid back and ready to be swung straight at me. I made the half a second decision to get on my knees and slide right under him. It worked for the first second, until he swung his crosse down slamming straight into my back. I heard a crack, I couldn't tell if it was the crosse or my back but it didn't mater. My feet dug into the ground from the excruciating pain and my slide slowed to an eventual halt. I turned my head to see Stiles running straight for me, he was going to take the crosse off the ground and away from the net. With a final push I lunged forwards in an attempt to grab it, I pulled it towards me and rolled on my side, the momentum was just enough to slide the ball out of the net, and you know what. Into the goal. There was a sudden roar of cheers and before you knew it, I blacked out.

I winced my face as my eyes started to part slowly, I saw a pair of dark brown eyes staring straight back at me. It was coach.... I tilted my face over to the left to see Liam running towards me to be stood right behind coach. "Ummm... Coach? I'm pretty sure Ryland's a bit too young for you." he joked. Coach shot straight back up and stared at him, a cold, dark, soulless stare into his soul. I saw Liam shiver. Coach eased backwards and Liam walked over to help me up off my back. I looked around, I was on the stands, the seats just by the field. I turned the other way to see Lydia and Kira waving back at me. I tried to smile back but I returned a face of disgust. The pain was too much. Liam grabbed his water bottle and moved it towards my mouth. I took a few sips and eased the water bottle away from my face with my hand. I let out a little grunt, it hurt to move my arm. "That was quite a blow you got there dude." he said. "But you know what, I heard Coach talking to Zach and I think he's planning on giving you the spot for captain."  
"No... No!!! I can't... I can't take Scott's place. I refuse to." I protested.   
"Okay okay! Calm down, I'll get coach over here and you can tell him yourself ok. I don't make the rules." he said reassuringly. He yelled for coach as he walked over slowly.   
"You feeling better Ryland? Wanted to ask me something?" coach sputtered.  
"No not really, but you got to give Scott the role as captain. I can't take it, I refuse to take it coach." He looked at Liam as if he were to hit him.   
"Why don't you want the role of captain? You were captain in Island High, why not now?"  
"I just, I can't take the pressure that this role gives. It's too much to worry about and it's just, such a big role. Furthermore, I haven't really -" I let out a cough.  _Ugh my back is killing me._  "I haven't really had much of a leadership role ever since the team was disbanded. Just let Scott have this. He's better suited for it."  
"Are you sure? You're really going to waste your chances for an amazing reputation?"   
"Yeah. I am coach, and trust me, I won't regret it."  
"Ummm.. Okay then.... Whatever you want Ryland. Now get some rest. I'll go give Scott the good news." He left and walked over to Scott. Liam helped me up, I placed my arm over his shoulder and he carried me back to the locker rooms. He laid me down on the benches that laid around the room. "I'm going to go get some ice okay? I'll be right back!"  
I nodded and leant my head back onto the lockers and closed my eyes. The peace and quiet was nice. It was serene and relaxing, it felt like forever since i've heard silence.  _Peace and quiet, finally._  I must have spoke too soon because the door barged open. My eyes shot wide open and I saw Scott staring straight back at me. For once he looked happy.   
"Ryland? Why? Why did you give up your place?" he wondered.   
I would have gone with the whole story with how it's too much effort and the stupid mistake I made back then but I went with something else instead.   
"Because you know what, Captain McCall sounds better than Captain Calix." I revealed. I gave him a chuckle and he sat down beside me. He looked me into my eyes, his lips were curled on one corner, revealing a sort of half smile.  _It was so hot._ He tilts his head over to the side slightly and leans his head in.  _Wait. Is he trying to kiss me? What?!?!?!?!!!_

Just before our lips touched Liam barges through the door.  
"Ryland I got the ...--" He stopped and dropped the bag of ice onto the floor. The bag burst open and ice started to fall out of the bag. His face. It wasn't disgust or anger no, it was confusion, and somehow I sensed a bit of sadness in there as well. Scott stood up and reared backwards.   
"I... I... I.... I'm sorry. I didn't..." he gulped. He was in the process of walking towards the exit when Kira bursts in and jumps onto his arms. "CONGRATULATIONS BABE!! CAPTAIN FOR ANOTHER YEAR!" she squealed. Scott caught her and leaned in for the kiss. Their lips met and they stumbled out of the room. Liam turns to look at me, he looked really distraught, he was all jumpy and cheerful, but now he looked sad and in pain. He placed the bag of ice on my back and walked out of the room. One foot dragging behind the other.  _Did I do something wrong? I didn't think so..._  Lydia walks into the room and up to me. "Anyone going to take you home?" she asks.   
"Ermm.. I don't think so. Why?" I answered.  
"Well, you ain't walking home. I'll drive you".  
She helps me up and we walked over towards her car.  
"Congrats by the way, you made the team." she congratulated.  
"Oh hah.. Thanks.."   
I got into the car and she closed the door for me. She ran around her car and towards to the drivers side. She got in herself and turned to face me.   
"So, where do you live?"   
"Oh.. Erm.. Just off the main road? Into the woods? There's a country house up there."  
"So you're the one who bought that house! Nice place isn't it?"  
"Yeah, quite." I babbled. I was struggling to talk.   
"Get some rest, I'll wake you up when we're there."  
I closed my eyes and fell into a slumber.

Someone was shaking my shoulder and I shot up. It was Lydia, I looked out the window and I saw my house. My mum was out by the porch, she put down her book and walked over to the car. She opened the door and helped me out of the car.   
"Thanks so much for everything. Lydia was it?" she smiled.   
"That's me! You're welcome Mrs Calix." Lydia responded cheerfully.  
"Stop it you. Just call me Amanda." she replied as she blushed.   
Lydia backed out of the driveway and soon after, out of sight. My mum carried me up into my room and laid me on my bed.   
"Well looks like you had fun." she chuckled.  
"Haha I guess you could say that." I yawned.  
"Good first day?"  
"Interesting, to say the least."   
"Well, good night son, I'll let you get some rest. If you're not feeling too good, don't go to school tomorrow okay? Make sure you recover."  
I returned a smile and she pulled the covers over me. She kissed me on my forehead, flicked the light switch and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. I didn't really sleep immediately, I was still so confused as to why Liam acted that way. Why would his mood suddenly change for no apparent reason.  _Unless, Unless he li-..._  My thought process was ended abruptly as I saw the same pair of yellow eyes, staring straight into my room.

I passed out.


	2. Beta

I turned my body over just out let out a deafening scream.  _Thank god we live in the forest..._  My back still hurt from last night, that was one hell of a lacrosse game. It wasn't even a game, just the tryouts. I wouldn't have expected to take such a blow. I tried to get up but I couldn't, the pain just built up and up. I gave up and relaxed my muscles.  _Ahh... That felt better._  I stared up towards my ceiling. The fan was twirling ever so slightly. There was a sudden knock on the door and my mum walked in.  
"Hey kiddo." she whispered. "You alright? Cuz you didn't sound alright."  
I shook my head slightly.  
"Yeah, let's take you to the hospital and get your back checked." she said reassuringly. "I'll just go downstairs to get changed, and I'll come back up to get you." and she left the room, closing the door slightly leaving behind the smallest gap. I absolutely hated it, the door is either fully opened, or fully closed, never in the middle, personally I would get up to close the door properly, but considering my situation, I decided not to. I tilted my head to the side and saw my bedside clock, only just to realize that I didn't really have much available neck movement either, the pain was excruciating. I decided to give up, i'll just lie here, didn't need to move yet. I was about to dose back off to sleep just as I heard the door bell ring.  _Who's here so early? and on a school day?_  
"Just a minute!!" my mum yelled. I could hear her heels on the oak wood floor. The lock to our front door clicked open, there was a bit of chatter but I couldn't make out any of it into words. My mum walks up the stairs, those heels sure are loud.   
"Hey mum? Who was--" I was stopped just to see Lydia's face as the door creaked open. She smiled at me.  
"I'm too young to be your mum Ryland haha." she replied with a giggle. Well.. This was embarrassing...  
"I...I... thought my mum was coming up. Don't you have class?"  
"I have a free first period so I decided to come check on you, and with your mums permission, take you to the hospital too. I told her when we talked for a bit downstairs, I can take care of you, I've seen worse before." She started to walk closer, the smell of perfume grew stronger. It smelt like lilies and buttercup, it was so relaxing. "Here, let's help you up. By the way, what does your mum do? She's dressed so formally, it's a great look on her."   
"Oh yeah." I coughed "She's a lawyer here, the company she worked at allowed her to move here since the new branch just opened recently. She's the director of Beacon Hills Law Firm, a branch of the parent company."  
"That's amazing! Is that what you're going to be when you're older? A lawyer just like your mum?"  
"A lawyer? Me? Hah good one." I joked.   
"What? No I wasn't kidding. Stiles used to talk about being a detective, something along the lines of what his father does. I was just wondering if you would too."  
"Eh. I'd personally never see myself as a lawyer, I don't think I could handle the stress considering panic attacks are quite a major part of my life." I slipped on my shoes and she helped me off the bed. "Don't let the little things affect you okay? We're always here for you!" she vowed.   
I gave her my thanks and she pulled my arm over her shoulders and walked me out of the room. We hopped down the stairs, trying so hard to not trip and fall, and towards to front door. Lydia turns her head to notify my mum. "Bye Amanda!! We're leaving now!!"  
"Thanks love" she yelled back. We walked towards the car and she helped me into the passenger seat, she got on herself and we took off into the woods towards the town.   
"Hey Ryland, what does your dad do? He's off to work awfully early." My face started to go white and my face went blank. I didn't know what to say and I felt like I was going to break down. I held it together and answered to the best of my ability.  
"Ummm..." My breathing sped up. "He d....d...died a few years back...He died to like, a coyote or a cougar or whatever. There were claw marks all over him..."  
"Oh my god Ryland. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry! I didn't know." her face went red with embarrassment.   
"No! Don't worry about it okay." I started to calm down. I've never talked about this stuff before, I don't really like talking about my dad. I didn't know him that well, never really got to. There was a bit of awkward silence in the car until it went over a speed bump. I yelped, I was going to faint. The pain, it was too much. Lydia turned to look at me, and before she said anything, I blacked out.

The car arrived at a halt and my whole body lunged forwards with my chest being caught in the seat belt. I choked and felt my ribs cracking. I started to cringe and the door swung wide open. My eyes weren't entirely open but it looked like two people in white coats, they both had name tags. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on my hearing. I heard the voice of a woman and the voice of a man, there was some talk about bringing me to the emergency room, and I heard the screaming for a gurney. They put their arms under mine and pulled me out of the car slowly. I heard the woman say something on the lines of "I know this one..." or something to that extent. I really couldn't hear anything, I felt like I was going to pass out again. A third person in a white coat walked near and grabbed my legs, he lifted my legs up onto the gurney and placed me down. The gurney went up a slight slope and a blast of cold air hit me. I slowly opened my eyes, I saw the long ceiling lights, they shot past me, one after another, I was moving wasn't I? There was a lot of noise in the hospital, the phone calls didn't seem to end, doctors and nurses were running around the place and the screeching noise of the gurney wheels just kept squeaking. My ears started to ring so I tried my best to ignore everything that happened around me. The doctors pushed the gurney into a room, I could feel the doors slamming onto the gurney, the whole thing shook. I flinched, I started to take deeper breaths to compensate for the unbearable pain.  _In through the nose, out of the mouth, in through the nose, out of the mouth._  I kept thinking too myself, it was a technique to calm me down that my mum taught me, ever since I started getting panic attacks. I felt relaxed, pain, not so much, it was still there, but I didn't notice it as much, until they lifted me up, over the railings and back onto the bed. "ARGHHHH!! STOP!!!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.   
"Hey, hey hey... Relax. We're going to administer some local anesthetic and start the operation okay?"  
"What?!?! What operation?!?!?? What are you doing to me?" I started to panic.   
"You have multiple foreign objects lodged into your back Ryland. We need to operate immediately."  
I started to freak out.  _What foreign objects? What happened to me? It was just a lacrosse tryout..._  Before I knew it a needle was inserted into my arm, I turned my head to look back up towards the ceiling, the doctors lamp shone so brightly, I counted down from  _10...9...8...7...6...5...4..._  . I was out.

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_I opened my eyes, I was on the field. I turned to face the scoreboard. There was 20 seconds on the clock, our team "Home" were two points off from gaining the lead, if only I shot from the two point line, I'd get the two points, and win it for Island. I'd be the school hero, we'd be champions for another year. The thought kept entering my mind, and it didn't leave, I was so determined to get the ball into the goal, and do it alone._   
_"Captain! Pass the ball! Pass the ball! I'm open! We can win this!" one of my teammates screamed. I ignored him and kept running towards the two point line. I could see two players from the opposite team ready to tackle me. None of them wanted to score, all they wanted was to stall the game, after all, they were in the lead by two points. 15 seconds left. Everyone was screaming at me to pass, I'm not going to, I am the one who's going to score this, I am the one who's going to win it for us. 10 seconds left, the cheering got louder and the screaming did too._   
_"PASS THE F*CKING BALL CALIX" the coach bellowed. "YOU CAN'T DODGE THOSE TWO. THEY'RE THE BEST DEFENDERS OF THE CENTURY"_   
_I drowned out the voices, it was just my breathing, and the crunch of the AstroTurf under my feet. Time seemed to slowdown as I planned my move. I jumped up ready to take the shot, crosse drew back, ready to shoot. I let out a roar, I could see the ball ready to leave the crosse. I was so sure of it, I was going to win this, I was going to be a hero!_   
_There was a sudden sharp pain in my chest and stomach, their crosse sticks were pushing against me. I lost my grip, the crosse fell out of my hand, the flipped me over and I crashed into the ground. I turned my head, the timer just reached 0 and the whistle was blown. I faced the other way to see my crosse with the ball on the ground. F*ck. I dropped my head and dug myself into the 'grass". I.. I ruined it.. I ruined it.. I ruined it... It's over, my life, my career. I didn't bother getting up, I didn't bother looking up. I waited, I waited for the lights to turn off. I couldn't let anyone see me, not at this state, and not after what I've done. I felt a tap on my back, I hesitated to turn but I did so anyway, it was the opposite team's coach. "Thanks for the win kiddo." he joked. He pushed my head back into the 'grass' and walked away snickering like a total idiot. I laid there for a good 10 or 20 minutes, I had thoughts running through my mind, I felt so down, so worthless, and in some ways, so isolated, I've never felt this way since the first day of school at Island High. Coach had such high hopes for me, he was the only teacher who gave a sh*t about me, he was the only teacher who cared. He put so much effort into training me, so much time spent on me, only to know that I threw it all in the trash. I let him down, and I let him down big time, it wasn't some minor error, it was an error I knew that would haunt me for the rest of my life. The lights cut off and I pulled myself off the ground. I looked to make sure no one was around me and I walked back home from the field. "I'll get my bag tomorrow. I rather not see anyone right now" I murmured to myself._

_It was a horribly dark and lonely road home. I still remember going out with the team after, having awesome food. Last year we had Mexican, coach treated us to dinner and it sure was one of the best that I've ever had. This year, it was different, I walked home alone. The walk seemed much longer than usual, I didn't have anyone to talk to. it was just awfully lonely. I got up and onto the sidewalk, it genuinely felt like it was hours. It was painful, emotionally and physically. My chest still hurt from the crosse stick, I tried to ignore it, thinking about it won't do me any good, so I just left it. I stepped up onto my lawn and up the stairs. My mum opened the door, she asked me something but I didn't pay attention, I just walked down the corridor towards my room and shut the door behind me. I didn't eat, and I couldn't sleep. My horrible play was stuck there, in the back of my mind, it haunted me._   
_I missed the three days after the game, I couldn't just hide at home for my entire life, that wouldn't benefit me at all. I walked to school, the bus didn't seem like an option right now. I arrived the school campus, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at me. I felt like I didn't belong here anymore,I felt isolated, I felt like the new kid again, the kid with no friends, no life, no future. I didn't have anyone, I kept walking and I started to hear the things that everyone was saying about me._   
_"Isn't he the kid that ruined the lacrosse team?" one kid said._   
_"Yeah, coach ended the team because of him. He said he couldn't keep playing a sport that ruined the school's record." the other replied._   
_I felt horrible, I ruined coach's dream, his dream of managing the best lacrosse team in the area, and hopefully, the world. He wanted so much for me and the school. It killed me to know that my selfish move wrecked his hopes and dreams. I kept walking further into the school. I started to hear the mockery, and it wasn't even subtle. This one kid Charlie walked up to me. "So Mr Calix. What does it feel like to throw your entire career in one stupid move?" he mocked. I couldn't handle it anymore, I ran. I ran towards to boys toilet, the cubicle door slammed open and I closed it behind me and made sure it was locked. I sat on the toilet and started to cry. I sat there and didn't move, lesson after lesson. The day passed and all I did was sit and cry. I felt like any second now I was going to run out of tears and blood was going to pour out instead of water._   
_"Ryland? Ryland you there?" someone asked. His voice was so recognizable, I feel like I know him from somewhere. "Hey come out, I talked to Mr Hevin (School Principle) and he said I can go home with you, you're feeling so much stress right now and it's best that you stay home and rest."_   
_"Mark? Is that you?" I wept. Mark's my best friend._   
_"Yeah man. It is. Now get out, lets go home. We can play League of Legends. I need a duo partner, nearly at plat man!!" Typical Mark, all he thought about was League of Legends. I unlocked the door and we walked out of school. It was nice to have a friend. I thought I would have lost everyone around me, I'm so lucky to still have him as a friend. The walk home was so much more enjoyable than the last time I walked home. I had someone to talk to and it was an enjoyable stroll home. We didn't even go near the topic of lacrosse or the team or coach, we just bantered about the random things in life, movies, songs, games etc. I had an enjoyable time. He came over to my place and, like he planned, we played League of Legends into the night, until the phone rang. Mark picked it up. "Hello? Who is this?" he asked. A woman spoke through the phone. "Oh hey mum!.... oh......oh okay...... Yeah I'll come home now.... okay......okay...... see you soon!"_   
_He turned to look at me. "Hey Ryland, I'm going to go now okay. We have relatives over and I really should be there. I'll see you another time?"_   
_"Yeah sure. Thanks for coming! Appreciate it." I answered. Deep down I really didin't want him to go because then I would feel alone and useless. I waved my goodbye and walked back towards my room. Oh! It's already 11? I jumped into bed, pulled the covers over myself and flicked the light switch off. I let out a sigh of relief and went to bed._

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My eyes parted slowly as a light shone brightly into them. I squinted as I tried to let my eyes adjust to the light. As the light intensity decreased, I looked around me, I was in the hospital.  _So the operation was a success_. The doctor walked in, I looked at her name tag. "Melissa McCall". "Heey." she slurred. "How are you feeling? Better?"   
"Much, thank you. By the way, you're Scott's mother?"   
"Yeah I am! You know Scott?"  
"Mhmmm. I moved to Beacon Hills yesterday, It was my first day."   
"Your first day, and you're in the hospital already?" she laughed.   
"Hah. Yeah, it was lacrosse tryouts. I got hit on the back with the crosse."  
"Oh wow. Speaking about getting hit, did you know there were plastic splinters in your back? Didn't you notice from your bed?"   
"What? Really? I was hit that hard? And umm.. No I didn't notice, my bed sheet was black, so I didn't notice any blood at all. Oh crap! That means Lydia's car would have blood stains on it. I should call her now and say sorry." I tried my best to sit up and grab my phone that was on the table in front of me. Melissa placed her hand on my chest and lowered me back down.  
"Relax. We called Lydia about what happened to you, and your mum knows as well. Sadly she's at work right now but she said she'll come tomorrow morning to pick you up and take you home."  
I let out a sigh of relief.   
"Now I'm going to go out on a limb and say Scott did this to you." she inferred.   
"How did you know? Did this happen before?" I had a brainwave, I remembered Liam talking to me about how this happened to him when he first joined the team. Scott injured him, because he was potentially better than him. "Was it because of Liam?"   
"Good guess. I know my son too well to know that he gets defensive when someone threatens his position as captain in the lacrosse team, he holds his position really highly. I just hope he doesn't mean to kill. Get some rest okay? You mum's going to come in tomorrow to take you home."  
"Thank you Dr. McCall!"   
"Oh stop it you.. Just call me Melissa, we're all family here!" she started to blush, put my board into the slot and left. Just as she left, Scott walked in. He had a very concerned look on his face. He closed his eyes for a second and exhaled.   
"Ryland. I... I'm really sorry for nearly killing you back there. I don't expect you to forgive me and I understand if you're mad at me as well. I shouldn't have been so defensive about my role. I talked to coach about it and he's happy to give you the role of captain, only if you want it." I was so shocked, I didn't expect Scott to come, and even if he did, much less apologize.   
"Scott. Stop apologizing, it's okay. I'm still alive right? Another thing, keep the position as captain, you've been great for so many years, there's no need for you give it up. You're a great captain, and that's what's important."  
He gave a sigh of relief and smiled. "Thank you Ryland. I appreciate it. Anyway, how are you feeling?"   
"Ehh. The back hurts a bit but your mum said I should be out tomorrow."  
"Well that's great, you can be back in school the day after right?"   
"Yeah I guess so."  
His face started to blush. "I.. I wanted to apologize for trying to kiss you, I should have asked if it was okay for you or if you didn't mind."   
"Hahaha! I've dated a guy before, if that's what you're trying to get at."   
"I guess that makes me feel better."  
"To be perfectly honest, you're quite cute! Not that I've known you for that long but, it feels good to have someone interested in you, you know? I've missed the feeling of being loved."   
"Hasn't anyone shown you affection like I have before?" he starts to move in closer.   
"Well, not like how you have, I suppose. Ever since I broke up with my ex boyfriend, I haven't really thought about love since then. I never saw it as important or something that I needed in my life. It was an addition to my life, not a necessity."   
"Well.. Would you mind if I kissed you? We were sort of, interrupted last time..."   
"Aren't you dating Kira?"  
"Yeah but to be perfectly honest with you. I feel like our relationship is parting, I don't love her like when I used to, I didn't have that obsession over her now compared to when I first met her. I really miss the time when she was all shy and timid, now I feel like she's over the top and bubbly. I mean, don't take me wrong, it's nice to be open and happy and cheerful, but I didn't fall in love with this trait, I fell in love with the quiet and timid Kira."   
"I don't mind the kiss.. I just don't want you -.." in one swift motion he moved his head in. Our lips met, my eyes shot wide open, I was shocked at first but I slowly relaxed and my eyes shut. My lips parted and my head tilted slightly to the right as my nosed brushed over his. I shifted my head up a tad bit to suck on his upper lip, they're so soft, so tender. Our breathing slowed down, I could hear his heart beating, it beat quicker and quicker as the time progressed. His arm eased around my body and down my waist, he started to pull me off the bed and closer to him, his grip tightened and he pulled me tighter, closer. Our lips parted, and I opened my eyes to see him staring back at me.   
"Thank you Ryland." he said as his cheeks grew red. "You're a really good kisser" he says as he starts to blush really hard.   
I slowly lie back down on the bed and gave him a wink. "You're not so bad yourself hmm?"  
Scott starts to blush even more. "Aww thanks.. I think I better go now haha, my free period is nearly over."   
"Yeah sure! Quick question though, did Liam come to school today?"   
Scott's face lost it's colour, the blushing stopped immediately and his smile slowly disappeared. He seemed distressed but he answered anyway. "Umm. I think I might have seen him this morning, but I can't be too sure."   
"Well, thanks anyway! Get going Scott, don't want you to miss your lesson!"   
"Bye Ryland! Get well soon!" He gave me a wave and left the room. I couldn't stop thinking about Liam though. He's been so sweet, so kind and just really really nice to me ever since we first met. I really would have expected a phone call or something to that extent. He's done so much for me, and I can't tell if I've done something wrong or if something in his life has come up.  _He's probably in class_  I kept thinking to myself. I picked up my phone and checked for any messages. There was a text from Lydia.   
< _Hey Ryland. How are you feeling? Sorry I can't be here to say hello and check on you personally, somethings come up in school but I really do hope you're feeling better. I heard the operation was minor so that's great. You should be out soon am I right? When you're out we can go somewhere and celebrate with the pack with drinks and food. Once again, get well soon and congrats on making the team! Take care!_ >  
Aww that was so sweet. I started to type up my response.   
< _Hii! I'm feeling better thank you and it's ok, school's more important. Scott's mum said I'll be out tomorrow, and I should be in school the day after and yeah we should celebrate. I'd love that! See you soon!_ >  
My phone made the "whoosh" sound and I put my phone back down onto the table. I looked around my room, it was pristine and everything was bright white. The curtains by the window were tied together with white rope, and the widows themselves were were so clean you wouldn't notice they were there. There was a really calming aroma, a sort of flower, but it had a really recognizable smell, something I knew that I would never forget. It was so serene, so silent, the only sounds that you could hear were the occasional walking of the doctors and nurses outside and wind that blew through the open window. I decided to break the silence and I started to play some music from my phone. Nothing too loud, I didn't really want to annoy the other patients on the same floor as I was. AWOLNATION's Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf) came on Spotify radio, I would say it's a little mix of pop and punk, it has a really nice tune to it too. The music was really relaxing, it set my mind at ease and it allowed me to clear my head and relax a bit. I haven't had times when it was just the music and I, it was comfortable and I really enjoyed it. With our day to day lives, we never get to listen to music for music it's always been a way to past time or to party to.

It was only 6pm but I was getting tired. I turned off the music and laid my head on the pillow. It was so soft, so fluffy.  _But I_ _need my pillow. I can't sleep with someone else's pillow._ Even if it was soft and fluffy, I need my pillow.  _Ah whatever._  I turned and turned until I found a position that was relatively comfortable. The bed was nice but there was just, something about the pillow that didn't feel right. I decided to flip the pillow upside down, granted it was much colder on the other side, there wasn't much difference. It just wasn't as flat because I haven't slept on it yet. I tried different sleeping positions and eventually finalized on curling into a ball. The fetal position was a position that never failed on helping me sleep, ever since I was a kid. I closed my eyes, cleared my mind and tried to sleep.  
I got around 30 minutes of sleep before the door creaked open. I ignored it, thinking it was Melissa just checking up on me. I was finally comfortable, I took a deep breath and carried on sleeping. Seconds later I felt a damp cloth on covering my nose and mouth. I tried to scream but nothing came out, I couldn't scream, I couldn't talk. I started to shake vigorously trying to get the cloth off of my face but someone had both my arms and pinned them behind me, I couldn't move. My phone lit up and I had a quick glance. It was Liam. Liam was calling me. My movements eased up,  _It was chloroform wasn't it..._  My body broke down and I passed out.

I took a deep breath and gasped for air as if I have been holding my breath for years. I couldn't see anything, something was tied over my eyes. I tried lifting one arm to remove the blindfold but my arms were tied together and fastened behind my back into the spine of the chair. I tugged and tugged but nothing. I tried twitching my face to see if I could remove the blindfold even a tiny bit just so I could see where I was, it was on so tight. I bent my body forwards and lifted my knees up. It felt so close, I tugged against the rope tying my let's to the chair. "Unnggggg" I panted.  _It's no use. Hey at least the chair's decent._ The room echoed with my breathing, I tried to concentrate on my senses, there was a really strong smell of wood, it smelt like the wood you would meet at a carpenters factory, making furniture etc. I could very faintly hear footsteps and it seemed like it was coming closer. The steps were spaced quite widely so I expected him or her to be walking slowly or if not, that person must have really long legs. The individual let out a cough, I instantly knew it was a man, he had a really gruff tone when he coughed and he cleared his throat after. He came closer, he started to crack his knuckles, one by one. I couldn't stand knuckle cracking, I flinched as he cracked each individual knuckle. "Can... can you please let me go? I didn't do anything." I pleaded.   
"Mr Calix. We're not here about you, we're here about your father." he explained. His voice had a really strong British accent, somewhat soothing yet frightening at the same time.  
"What? Why? My dad's dead.."  
"That's exactly the point. Do you know what killed him?"  
"How the f*ck would I know. Let me go!" I started to twist and turn, I grunted and stopped moving.  _I shouldn't be wasting energ_ _y, I'm going to need it to get away. If I ever got the chance._  
"You saw the body, what did it look like?"  
"It looked like my dad you jerk. Now let me out of HERE!" Another guy walked up behind me, he was much bigger judging by the loudness of his footsteps. He grabbed the back of my neck and held a knife to the front of mine. "Answer properly." he murmured. I couldn't really make out what he said, his voice was really deep. I started to shiver, I was so scared.  
"Okay.. Okay... Just... Please don't... Please don't hurt me.."   
"Good. What was on the body?"   
"Umm..." I was breathing uncontrollably, pausing to sniffle slightly in between phrases. "There were claw marks.... The Doctor said.... it would have been a wolf or a coyote...."   
"Thank you. Let me introduce myself. The name's Thomas Knight of the Knight family. We're a long generation of hunters." his partner sheathes his knife and walks back a few steps.  
 _What?_  "So you're here to kill the coyote or whatever that killed my dad?" I was so confused. "What's the point? It's been so many years, it's probably dead already."   
"Ahh Ryland. You're so clueless. Didn't you do any research before you moved here?"  
"Yeah I did, but it didn't mention anything about the weirdos who kidnap teenagers to give them a history lesson. I think they might have left that out on the reviews..." I didn't feel as scared as I was before. He needed me, he can't kill me.   
"Only if you insist, let's have a little history lesson shall we?" he said in a sly tone. "Beacon Hills at first seems like your normal, ordinary town in California. Little did anyone know was that Beacon Hills was a beacon. Ironic isn't it. A beacon to what you may ask. A beacon to the supernatural. You see, underneath it all, Beacon Hills sits on one of the largest and strongest forms of telluric currents that all reach one location, a sacred druid meeting place. We call that, the Nematon. The Nematon is a massive tree stump, it was the sacred meeting place of the druids. If you didn't know, druids were priests of an ancient Celtic religious order, they were teachers, healers and even poets. The Nematon hasn't been 'active' for many years until three teenagers from Beacon Hills decided to kill themselves and come back to life, the sole purpose to find the exact location of the Nematon, this one act caused it to activate. The beacon is now live, and many different supernatural creatures come here. Your dad died here didn't he, during a business trip a few years back?"  
It was so much to take in,  _supernatural beings? Here in Beacon Hills?_  That was a bit over the top.  _This might be one of Scott and Liam's stupid jokes._ I decided to play along. "Yeah he did.."   
"Your dad didn't die from a coyote or whatever animal you thought of. Your dad died from a werewolf attack."   
"Hahaha. You're joking right? A werewolf attack? Mr. Knight, I've read about mythological creatures and there is a very good reason why they're called mythological creatures. They're myths, they aren't real."  
"You think I'm joking but I can safely say that there are no coyotes in Beacon Hills, or Beacon County for that matter. You sure you haven't seen one? Coloured eyes that change spontaneously? Supernatural abilities, reflexes, strength?"   
A memory instantly shot into my mind. I flashed back to the first day of school, spending time with Liam during our free period. The rugby call that flew towards me, he shouldn't have been able to catch it, it's practically impossible for one person to have reflexes that fast, and most importantly, his eyes turned gold when he caught the ball. The same gold from the eyes in the woods.  _Could it be? Could Thomas be telling the truth?_    
"It rings a bell doesn't it. So tell me, where are the werewolves?"  
"We... We don't have any werewolves in our school..."   
I heard a lot of ruffling, he was moving his shirt around. Before I knew it, I felt something on my forehead, it was cold, it was circular. I heard the gun cock and I jumped.   
"PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON'T. PLEASE DON'T! I'LL TELL YOU EVERYTHING I KNOW. JUST PLEASE DON"T HURT ME." I begged.   
"Then tell me." as he pushed the gun further into my head. "Tell me, or I'll shoot."  
I whimpered like a little puppy. I started to shake, tears started to seep into the blindfold, it was getting damper and damper. I was about to let all loose when I heard someone screaming in the background.   
"Mr Knight! MR KNIGHT! Intruders, code red, CODE RED! Samuel is dead and Tommy is not responding to his radio.   
"Well well, looks like you get an extra five minutes of your life, to ponder about where you went wrong."   
 _I'm going to die, my life's over, I'll die here, just like my father._  I felt my blindfold loosen and eventually tugged off my face. I slowly opened my eyes, it was pitch black, the room I was in was as dark as being blindfolded. The only light that appeared was a slither of light from the gaps in the ceiling.   
"Ryland?" he whispered.  
"Who is it? Please. Let me go."  
"It's me. Liam." as he moved to the front to untie my legs. I started to sob.  _I'm not going to die. Not yet at least._  
"Oh my god you don't even know how happy I am to see you. How did you find me?"   
"I called you a few hours ago, I wanted to ask if you were available to have dinner with me but you didn't pick up and that's not a Ryland thing to do, so I went over to the hospital to check on you. When I got there you weren't in the bed. I immediately called Scott and lucky for you, he has an amazing sense of smell. The Knights, the people who kidnapped you, they use a special type of chloroform, one that they made themselves. It has a very distinct smell and we knew where to go."  
"Then where's Scott..."   
"Oh he's the distraction."   
"What? Does he know karate or something?"  
"Something like that." he looked up and saw Scott running towards him. "SCOTT!"  
"RUN! LIAM RUN!" he yelled. Liam tried to pull me off the chair but didn't notice the rope tying my stomach to the spine of the chair. "Ugh! I'll get you out okay! Just wait." I rolled my eyes and turned to look at Scott.  _Why is he on all fours?_  He turns to face me and stands up, I jumped. I couldn't believe my eyes. His eyes were bright red and they glowed so brightly in the dark, similar to what I saw on Liam and in the woods, but just, red... He had fangs protruding from his mouth, they looked razor sharp and they reminded me of the wolves from the nature channel. I looked down at his hands, his nails, his nails were so much longer than a normal human beings nails, they were dripping with blood as if he clawed at someone. His face was morphed, I squinted my eyes trying very hard to see in the dark. The face resembled Scott but the bridge of his nose was much wider, his face was so much more defined and muscular, he had sideburns and lastly his eyebrows were much thicker! I kept denying the fact that I saw what I saw, I didn't want to believe it, I didn't want to believe that there was such as thing as werewolves. Werewolves belong in fantasy, in mythology, not in the real world and definitely not here with me! I turned to look away, for this one time, I wished I was dreaming, I wished this wasn't real.

_Was it all real? Did Thomas actually tell me the truth, is there really such a thing as werewolves. Did I just see one? Or was this a very elaborate practical joke that's played on all the newbies of the lacrosse team._ I decided to look over again to see if this was all a dream or a massive joke.  _No. It wasn't._  Scott turned to face Liam and let out a mighty roar. It was absolutely deafening, I wanted to cover my ears but my wrists were still tied together behind my back, I wished Liam untied me then talked and explained, that way I could be running for my life not sitting in the middle of an inevitable fight that was about to happen.   
A stampede of men came running into the room, I turned to have a look, there were at least a dozen of them running with knives and machetes. Thomas appeared out of the crowd holding a pistol.  _Probably the same one he threatened me with._  
"Why thank you Mr Calix. I knew you would come to some use. Now I'm going to give you the privilege of dying with your best and only friends, and surprise surprise, they were werewolves this whole time, and they didn't even care enough to share this secret with you. Such friends aren't they."   
I turned to look at Scott and Liam, Scott didn't bother looking over but Liam turned to face me. He started to mouth the words: "I'm sorry."   
His neck snapped to the left and his jaw started to twitch, his two canines started to grow in front of me, they started to resemble fangs, exactly like the ones on Scott. He closed his eyes for a second and when he opened them, they were a strong shade of gold, somewhere near the amber range. I started to have flashbacks, back to the time when I was in my room, looking out the window.  _It was Liam wasn't it, Liam was outside my house. Liam was watching over me._ The sudden feeling of love rushed through my body, I felt warm and cared for, something I've never felt for in so long. Liam looked up towards the ceiling and let out a roar, he looked back down and his nasal bridge widened, his face, like Scott's was more defined, more structured than it ever was. He swayed his head towards the left and looked back towards Thomas and his team of hunters.   
Thomas started to laugh hysterically. "Did you really bring a beta? Don't you think that's a waste, and just to save this one kid. This worthless, fatherless, lifeless soul, one that will never achieve ANYTHING in life." he said mockingly. I already was terrified but, my heart just sunk. It felt like Thomas was chipping at it, a bit by bit until there was nothing less.   
"He's not worthless." Liam scoffed. I lifted my head up slightly to see what he was going to say. "What's worthless is your plan to get rid of every single one of us. You can kill us, but there is always going to be more, there is always going to be someone out there who will find you, someone out there who will kill you, and end your, what should I call it... Legacy?.. When you're begging for mercy under the claws of an Alpha, you'll know true fear, you'll finally know, as a hunter, what it's like, to be hunted."   
I felt a tear roll down my right cheek, his speech was so inspirational, sure it wasn't much, but it was enough to anger the hunters. Thomas smirked and raised his pistol. "Me? Hunted? Sure." he twisted his body towards me, aimed the gun and he pulled the trigger.  _I'm dead. I'm dead. I'm dead. No wait.. I'm not dead._  It was silent, soundless, not a single sound but the rapid pounding of my heart. I opened my eyes, everything was sideways, or maybe I was on my side.  _That's a more logical explanation._  My ears started to ring, it was a constant high pitched tone, and ringing that never stopped. I stared looking around for Scott and Liam, they were nowhere to be seen. I shuffled on the ground, trying to pivot on the knot that the hunters tied. My hearing was slowly returning to me, I could hear the yelling and the screaming of the hunters, not the mention the thundering roars of Scott and Liam.

I still couldn't get my head around the fact that there are werewolves in this world. I thought back to just minutes ago, when Thomas mentioned how Beacon Hills was in fact a beacon, a beacon for the supernatural, bringing them all along to this one location. I wasn't really sure what to expect, if werewolves are in fact real, who knows what else could be out there.  _A banshee?_  I joked to myself. I didn't ponder on it too hard as the pistol caught my eye. I started to shuffle towards the gun, I felt like a worm on the ground, just twisting and turning, ever so slightly getting closer and closer. I turned my head to see what everyone was up to, nearly all the guys were down. I looked at Liam and shrieked. "LIAM BEHIND YOU!" I yelled. It was too late, the knife dug into his back and he let out a yelp. He fell on his knees to take a breather and got back up. He dodged the punches that the hunter threw at him, his eyes flared, jumped up and did a butterfly kick. The hunter fell to the ground, he spat out some blood along with a tooth, turned to face Liam and got back up. Liam reacted quickly and slashed the hunters chest, growled as he grabbed him by the shirt and punched him repeatedly till he was knocked out. He let the hunter fall to the ground and pulled out the blade from his back.  _Gross._ He turned around and leaped towards the next guy.   
I turned to look back at the gun, it was still there, but so far from my reach. I kept twitching and turning, trying to nudge myself closer and closer to the gun. "Come on. Come on. I can do this!" I kept saying to myself. I stopped to take a breather when Scott falls on the ground beside me. His breathing was slow and detached, his breathing would stop for a while then continue. I didn't know what to do, I was lying there with him about to start panicking. There was a sudden crash through the window and a sleek black wolf shoots in. He gives out a howl and Scott shoots back into motion. He took a deep breath and started pant. The wolf walked over to me, it had bright blue eyes, it looked me straight into the eyes.  _Was this another werewolf?_  Scott growls at the wolf, it pulled it's tail between his legs and reared back. It was scared, scared of Scott. It turned around and joined the fight with Liam. Scott got up and untied me from the chair and cut my hands free with his claws. They're much sharper than the kitchen knives I've got at home, that's for sure.  _Maybe I can ask him if he can cut my steak. No wait. I can ask Liam when we ever go to dinner, like he originally planned._  I crawled out of the chair and rubbed my wrists. They ached so badly, the ropes were really tight on me. I went on all fours and crawled over to the gun. I was just about to grab it with my right hand when a sleek brown Oxford stood on the gun. I looked up and I saw Thomas staring straight back at me. He had blood dripping from his nose, he wiped the blood on his sleeve and smiled at me.  
"Oh Ryland. I was right wasn't I. You're worthless, fatherless. Remember that amazing Island High game you played?" He bends down to pick up the gun, unloads it to see many bullets were left. "Hmm. Two shots, not bad." He cocks the gun and points it at my head. I could see my life flash before my eyes, I could see my hopes and dreams, all over. Scott see's Thomas and I, he runs towards us ready to lunge. He makes the final leap with his claws extended, ready to slice. I felt so relieved to see Scott, never thought I would ever think that way.  
I felt an arm wrapping around my neck as I was yanked over to the left. I looked back and Thomas was going to use me as a body shield. I look at Scott, my face full of distraught.  _I'm going to die, not by Thomas, but by a werewolf.._  Death on its own was scary, but being sliced in half, but someone I call friend. Scott noticed that he was going to kill me instead of Thomas and he dropped his feet onto the ground to try to slow himself down or possibly re-align himself. It was too late, I felt his claws enter my stomach. I twitched and gasped for air, Thomas lost his grip and I fell onto the ground. Scott immediately retracted his hands and caught me before I hit the floor. I started loosing the feeling of my toes, the numbness started growing on me up my legs and towards my waist, it stopped there, which was there the blood started to seep out of my wound. I was pumped with adrenaline, it didn't hurt as much, it was just really hard to breathe, it felt like as if I were drowning, I was gasping for air. Liam turned around, he was back to his human form. He saw me in my state, ran up to me and fell onto the ground weeping. "Ryland...Why... Scott... Please.. Do something... Please... I beg of you..." he sobbed as he sniffled between each pause. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak, I just tried my best to breathe, occasionally looking down at my stomach to see if the bleeding got worse. I had a blank expression, one might say it was the expression of shock and fear, I thought of it as blank. Scott puts me down and lays my head on Liam's lap. He looks down at his hands and starts to panic. "What... What have I done? How did it happen?" he blurted. Liam places his hands on my stomach, hoping to slow down the bleeding. I let out a a colossal scream.  _OH MY F*CKING GOD THAT HURT!_  I could feel it now, the pain, it burnt, I started to cry, I still couldn't feel the lower half of my body. The pain got stronger and stronger, I felt like I was loosing consciousness. My vision started to blur and my head got heavier.  _Is this what it's like to die?_

"Scott. Please. I can't let him die. I... I.... I love him Scott.. Please.. For me... I..." he sobbed. He grabbed my right hand and held it tight, leant forwards and kissed me on my forehead. "Please.. Please... Scott... Please... Anything..." he pleaded.  
"I.. I know what you're thinking about. The bite could save him, but if he's not strong enough, he could die from it too.." Scott gulped. "I really don't trust the odds Liam. I really don't.. As your Alpha I really advise against this."  
"And as your beta, I'm begging till the end of the world. He's dying, it's worth a shot." he pestered. "Please. Scott please." My hearing slowly faded, words became mumbles and my eyesight was practically gone. I couldn't see much but just a dark blur. My breathing slowed down, I didn't have the energy to carry on, I closed my eyes and tried to calm my mind.  _It's over Ryland. What's mum going to think about this? First dad, now me? She's gonna be devastated, she can't live alone, I've seen it happen and she doesn't fair well... My mum means the world to me, I can't let her suffer like this.._  A tear seeped out of my left eye and it rolled down my cheek. My body started to break down, I could hear the faint sobbing and screams of Liam. He grabbed onto my shirt and clenched the fabric between his fingers, tugging and shaking hoping I would wake up. I felt his head lay on my chest, I wanted to say goodbye, but I couldn't, I couldn't make a single sound, I couldn't move a muscle.  _I'm sorry Liam. I'm sorry._ I thought to myself. I felt as if my body and my soul were parting ways,  _This is it isn't it? It's the end.._

I relaxed my body, there was no use fighting it. I felt to arms on my shoulders, someone pushing down on me as four fangs penetrated my neck.

_Sorry Liam. Goodbye mum. I love you._


	3. Adaptation

_Is this what it's like to be dead? Do we get to think when we're dead? Am I a ghost now? Can I fly anywhere I want to? Oh my god this is going to be so cool! I can fly anywhere and everywhere, I can see anything and everything! Am I allowed to possess people, is this how some people are haunted, by ghosts like me? I should make a list of what I have to do as a ghost._ I floated towards the table.  _Ahhh! This is so much fun!_ I reached out my arm and I noticed that I could see through my hand. I looked down onto my body, it's a slightly opaque colour. I reached out of the notebook and tried to grasp it.  _Why can't I hold it?_  My fingers just slid through the notebook, as if I were trailing my hands through smoke. I kept trying to grab it but my fingers seems to disintegrate in front of me and reappear right as my fingers left the books proximity.  _What... Why is this happening, aren't ghosts allowed to pick up objects and make them seem as if they were levitating?_ I got really scared and sad about how I couldn't do the things that I wanted to.  _Well that just sucks..._  I turned to face my bedside table and I saw a picture of my mum and I. She was holding me when I was 6 years old. I noticed the brown stain on my shirt and instantly remembered the day it happened. I dropped chocolate ice-cream onto my shirt, I was so sad back then when it happened. My heart began to sink as my mind flooded itself with memories, it felt like as if my brain was going to drown. I felt like a ship, with holes in the hull as memories flooded in.  _What is mum going to do or think when she finds out I'm dead? She'll break down emotionally and mentally, loosing dad was hard enough for her, but loosing me, after all that we've been through, it... it would kill her..._ I didn't want to be a ghost anymore, I won't be able to see my mum like this, it would kill me to have to see her like this everyday. I'm not happy being dead... I didn't want to be dead... I started to panic, I was so angry, so frustrated!! I didn't want this, I don't deserve this. I flailed my arms around randomly hoping that I could knock something over or hit something. Nothing... My arms would just drift through these objects, nothing would happen. My arms weakened, and my head felt heavy, I just felt like collapsing onto the ground. I lost all motivation, all hope. I felt useless, I was useless. I started to shake uncontrollably and my eyes watered. I felt like crying, I felt really sad, alone, isolated, I didn't even know if I was crying, I couldn't physically feel my tears roll down my cheek or see the tears drip onto the ground. I let out a massive wail, hoping someone would hear me.  _Who am I kidding, I'm a ghost, no one's going to hear me._ I leant my back onto the wall and slid down onto the ground, closed my eyes and started to sob. 

"He's up. Guys! Come over here! He's up!" he said. The voice was so familiar, but I couldn't match the voice to a name. Very faintly in the background I heard footsteps, not just one but three pairs of feet. Slowly approaching me. "Why is he crying?" he said again.  _Ugh! I know who this is... I just... can't make out a name!_ I slowly opened my eyes to see a familiar and friendly face looking right back at me. I screamed his name, "LIAM!" and he gave me a great big smile as he leaned in to give me a hug. That was the moment I realized that I wasn't dead, the hug felt real, and it felt heartwarming, I felt good.  
"Aren't I glad to see you" I sobbed. "I had by far the weirdest dream. I was kidnapped from the hospital after I fell asleep and I woke up in this dark factory like place, tied up to a chair. Then this weird guy. His name was Thomas Knight? Or something like that, well he told me about my dad and how he wasn't killed my coyotes but he was killed by a werewolf. I mean! Werewolves are all myths, what insane person would believe something like that right?" Liam gave me a smirk and he chuckled but in a really awkward manner. I guess you could say that it didn't feel real.   
"Hah... Werewolves... That guy must be mental..." he gulped.   
"I know right! Anyway, I don't know what went through my mind but he was going to kill me and suddenly you and Scott turn up at the factory to save me. I don't know what book I read before I slept because you two transformed into werewolves! I must have been losing my mind haha! Then there was a lot of fighting and a lot of roars and yells. Thomas was the last man standing at the time and Scott lunged towards him, but he grabbed me and Scott stabbed me straight in the stomach instead. The pain felt so real, I swear it felt like it actually happened. If I remember correctly, I was about to die but then Scott bit me.. Right here.." I lifted my right arm and reached for my neck, I pointed at spot where Scott supposedly bit me, I placed my hand on my neck and I felt four dots. Four scars... I instantly snapped... "Wait a second..." I blood began to boil, I turned to face Liam. His face when red with guilt. He stood up and walked back a few steps as Stiles appeared from the back. I looked down onto the ground to see a non-finished semi-circle of black dust that surrounded me, Stiles waved his hand over the gap and the semi-circle sealed itself.  _What the heck is this?_  I didn't care, that wasn't the thing on my mind right now. I stood up and before Liam could even explain he started to yell.   
"You LIED to me. YOU LIED TO ME AND ACT LIKE NOTHING WAS WRONG? Oh, and since EVERYTHING was real, you SHOULD have let me die. I'd rather DIE than have to see you again. You A**-HOLE. I put my F*CKING TRUST IN YOU, and WHAT do I get back? I get turned into a MONSTER. Something I've never wanted to be..." I began to walk towards Liam, he backed down a bit. I was going to raise my leg and walk over the powder. I couldn't...  _What?_  I tried to push my hands out of the powders space, it felt like as if something was pushing me back. It was like a force field from Star Wars, just... Real... I felt trapped, even though it really didn't look like it, I felt like I was inside a rubber ball, no matter how hard I push, the ball would stretch, but always return back to it's original position. I felt a rush of adrenaline, I felt like as if I was slowly getting stronger, my energy built up and started to grow. There was a sudden sharp pain on my jaw and my face as my neck snapped to the left. I couldn't help but move my jaw from the left to the right, I lifted to tongue to feel around my mouth to notice that I've grown fangs... I've never felt so much pain, so much anger, such... a thirst for blood. I felt like clawing at Liam. I wanted to kill, I wanted to feast on flesh, human flesh. I started to claw at the barrier, push the barrier but nothing worked. I stepped back towards the wall, let out a scream, which turned out to be a roar and ran towards the barrier. I slammed right into it only to be bounced back and onto the wall behind me crashing back onto the ground. "Argh!" I groaned. The pain, in a sense was soothing. I eased off and knelt down on the ground, I could feel my nails retracting back. I heard a howl from the background as the same black wolf from the fight last night jumped in. His bright blue eyes glared straight at me, he turned around and walked towards an enclave in the corner of the basement, or whatever this place was. I heard the zip of pants and he walks back out, as a human.  _So he is a werewolf..._ He grabs a shirt from the coat hanger and slips into it. He had a really defined face, slight stubble and a very well built upper torso. He shifts his eyes to look at me as he walks towards Liam.   
"Where's Scott." he asked.   
"Right behind you." Liam laughed.   
Scott and Kira appear from the shadows, they're seen holding hand as Scott adjusts his dark denim jacket and pulls his shirt down. Scott whispered something into Kira's ear and she let go of his hand and started to fix her hair, it was a mess, all ruffled and tangled. He had his phone in his hand as it lit up playing a little tone as it did. He lifted his phone and read the text. < _Hi Scott. I just need to ask if you've taken Ryland, and if you have you're really lucky because Amanda called and she said she isn't able to pick Ryland up from the hospital, something came up and she asked me if I could take him home. I told her that you will take him home. Another thing, when you're home we need to talk, about the kidnapping of boys from hospitals... See you. >_   
"Well that's just sweet, apparently I kidnapped you Ryland." he snickered. "Oh and hello Derek. Nice of you to drop by, again."  
Derek, raises his eyebrow and tilts his head slightly to the right to face him. "I saved you last night. Just you remember that." he scoffed. "Anyway, what's he doing in the vault, why did you bring your beta here?"   
"Well, we originally wanted to chain him up so we brought him here. At the last minute, Liam decides against it and brought Dr. Deaton over to prepare the mountain ash which is whats keeping him in for now."   
Derek rolled his eyes and looks at Liam. "Have a soft spot for your new found brother?" he growled. Liam growled back and turned to look at Stiles.   
"Can you break the barrier please? He looks fine." he asked. Stiles reluctantly walked over to me. Just before he knelt down to remove the barrier Derek grabbed his hand and pulls him up.   
"Not a good idea Stiles... We have no idea if he's going to lose control, and if we lose him and he starts to run around the campus, we're all in trouble with your dad." he explained.   
"Please, trust me, I can handle him. I'll take care of him. Just, everyone leave once the seal is broken. I want to do this alone" he pleads. Derek turns to look at Scott and he nods his head. Scott signals Stiles to break the seal and walk out with them, not even bothering to look back.   
"Good luck beta, oh and don't make a mess of my vault." Derek snarled as he walked up the stairs in the distance.   
I raised my head and looked at Liam. I wasn't mad per say, more, concerned about what ever that's going to happen later.  _If mum finds out about this, I swear..._  
"Ryland? I know you're mad and I'm really sorry. I honestly would have asked if you wanted the bite or not but I really didn't want you to die. Ever since I met you I felt this strange connection, as if we were meant to be, like two peas in a pod, and letting you die would be the worst thing to have ever been through. I know we just met but yeah... I just... I couldn't let you die." he confided. I let out a sigh and got up onto my feet. I still felt a bit dizzy from smacking my head onto the wall. I squinted and rubbed my eyes hoping that the world would stop spinning, even slightly. I leant a bit too much to the right and fell back down onto my knees. Liam runs up to me to help me up. "Stay away." I demanded. "You're the last person I want to talk to right now." His face dropped and he sat down on the floor in front of me. He started to rub the back of his neck and he tightened his lips, turning them down at the ends. He looked down onto the ground as a single tear rolled down his left cheek. He took in a deep breath and let out a sigh.   
"'I'm sorry. I really am. Just let me take you home. You won't get very far on your own Ryland. It's the least I can do." he insisted. I rolled my eyes and tried to get up again, pushing myself up with my arms. My arms started to shake and my elbow shot out dropping my body back onto the floor. I let out another sigh of disbelief as I felt two arms grabbing me from the back. "Here, let me help." he said. He pulled me up and off the ground, placing my arm around his shoulder and his arm around my waist making sure I don't fall down again. His eyes sparkled as the sides of his mouth turned upwards to reveal two dimples. We walked up the stairs to reveal the main entrance of the school towering above us.  _We were under the school the whole time? What?!?_  I turned my head to see that we walked up and out from under the school's sign. Liam kept walking towards the cab that sat on the side of the pavement by the school. The door's flung open and he helps me into the cab keeping his hand above my head to prevent me from smacking into anything. He ran around the end of the taxi and got on himself, telling the cab driver my address. "Here, lean your head on my shoulder, get some rest." he urged. At first I would have ignored him but I really was too tired to care. He shifted over and put his arm around my shoulder as I leant my head back onto his, closing my eyes in the process. I shifted my back to get comfortable as he holds me tightly.  _Am I'm being too harsh on him? He did potentially ruin my life, but just to save me. Whatever._ The cab ride was just awkward and quiet, he didn't say a thing, the driver surely didn't say a thing and I just laid there, eyes closed, thinking about life.

The cab driver slammed on the brakes and the car juddered to a halt with me flying off the seat and onto the floor of the cab. "Sorry sir. Stray cat. You okay sir?" he apologized. I grunted and Liam pulled me back onto the seat.  
"It's okay." he said. "We're nearly there I presume?"  
"Yes sir, nearly. Just up this hill." he responded.  
"Thanks" and the cab started to move again. Liam started to dig in his trousers, his eyes shot wide open and his lips parted slightly. He turned to look at me. "Umm Ryland? Do you happen to have your wallet with you? I think I left it in the vault."   
"Really?" I grumbled. "My wallets in my back pocket." He leaned in and reached for my wallet. It was such an awkward feeling, having someone dig around in your back pocket for it. "The other pocket you numbskull." I mocked. He let out a giggle and took his hand out of my left pocket and reached for my right.   
"Got it!" he said. He opens up my wallet and his face lit up. "Awwww!" he purred. "You look so cute with your mum! You were a cute baby weren't you haha!" I rolled my eyes and nudged him with my elbow.   
"Just get the money" I moaned. He pulls out $30 and stuffs the wallet back into my pocket. The cab reached my house and stopped, Liam passed him the money and opened the door. He grabbed my arm, pulled me and I slid across the seat and nearly out the door.   
"Eyy stop!" I yelled. "I should be able to stand on my own now." I sat up straight on the seat and pushed myself off the seat. I was a bit wobbly at first but I was standing nonetheless. "You see?" I chuckled. He smiled back at me, grabbed my hand and we walked up the steps. Liam reached for the doorbell but I stopped him just before he pressed the button. "No one's home. There's a spare key under the fake rock, the one right beside your foot." I told Liam. He reaches down to pick up one of the rocks on the floor. "No no, the one next to it. The darker coloured one." He puts the first rock down and picks up the fake rock.  
"Wow that's awesome!" he exclaimed.   
I giggled. "Just put the key back into the rock when you've unlocked the door ok?"   
"Yeah sure." The key clicked into place and he let me into the house, as he slipped the key back into the rock and back onto the ground. I flicked on the lights and he shut the door behind him.   
"If you want anything to eat, the kitchen is to the right and the washroom is down the corridor to the left. I'll just be heading up to my room first." I smiled. I slowly walked up the stairs towards my room, thinking about what I said to Liam. I felt really bad for saying what I said and I felt like it was a need for me to apologize. I opened the door to my room walked towards the bed and lied down. "Ahhhh" I sighed.  _Now that's relaxing_ _._  Liam peeks his head through the door holding two cups.   
"Care for a cup of hot cocoa?" he said cheekily. He walked in holding a cup in each hand. I looked raised an eyebrow and lifted the side of my mouth up.   
"Did you find the marshmallows?" I asked.  
"You know me too well!" he chuckled. He lowers his hand to reveal the array of colours in the cup. He passes me my mug and pulls out the black chair from under my desk.   
"So heh. Apart from being kidnapped and nearly killed by Scott, how's Beacon Hills so far?" he began.  
"I love the people here! If that's the response you're looking for!" I chuckled. His face started to blush, he closed his eyes, dropped his head and started to giggle.   
"That's nice" he said still trying to contain his laughter. "By the way, what does your mum do? She seems like a really busy lady."   
"Oh yeah, she's the director for the new law firm here. They opened a new branch and her old boss let her take over. Since it's brand new, she told me she might have to work overtime a lot of days and that she might be home late. I guess this is one of those days right?"   
"Oh wow. It must be so stressful, working such long hours and having such a demanding job. My friends dad used to be a lawyer, and he very rarely saw him, he was always out early, and back late. In a sense it was like he wasn't there."  
"Well.. Then I guess I consider myself very lucky, I get to see my mum every morning and most nights. It sound cheeky and stuff but seeing her is really important to me. She's the only family I've got left, apart from you guys of course, since I'm like part of your pack. Surprised? You better be, I've read about mythological creatures. Like any book I get my hands on, I will read. I guess I saw this book in the library in my old school. One of the more interesting reads of my lifetime I suppose. Anyway, my mum's really important to me and she means the world to me, and I've never kept a secret from her, which right now, is really scary for me, because I don't know if I can tell her what I am now."  
"So, you weren't scared of dying? You were scared of being a werewolf?"  
"Well I mean, everyone's scared of death but you could say that yeah. It's just, being a werewolf, there are so many things I have to care about and so many things that I have to keep in mind, like not telling everyone and having to hide this secret from so many people around me, it's something that I've never really had to do, I've never had a massive secret to hold, in a sense I was an open book back in Island High and now everything's different."  
"Well, life isn't that much different, look at me, the only difference is that I'm a hundred times better at lacrosse than when I was before. I guess the only thing that puts us apart is how I don't actually have to tell my parents considering we don't really talk much anyway. However, from what I know, Scott's mum knew when she saw Scott transform, and Stiles' dad knew the same way."  
"I just... I don't know what my mum will think, knowing that I've just moved here and I'm already a werewolf. Another thing! I don't even know how to control this, you saw me when we were under the school, I couldn't do anything about it. I genuinely wanted to kill you, to kill all of you."   
"First of all, stay positive, you don't know what your mum will think of you, heck, she might even be happy or interested and secondly, you're part of a pack, we're family now, and we're always going to be here to help you, teach you and train you. That you don't have to worry about, right now, all you've got to do is decide if you're going to tell your mum or not."   
"I'm home!" she yelled. I heard the keys clang loudly into the bowl. "I'm going to prepare dinner! Steak?"   
"That's great mum. Thanks!" I yelled back. "Great timing." I told Liam. "I think I'm just going to tell her, I don't think I would be able to live with myself if I kept this secret from her. We actually share every little secret, we don't hide things from each other, and this is something I definitely can't keep from her."   
"Should I go then?" he asked.  
"Ummm. No please stay, I need you to be here. I want to do this with you, I don't think I can do this alone." I pleaded. He tightened his lips and shifted them to the right, scrunching his lips. He gave me a nod and smiled. "Hey mum? Can you come up for a bit?" I yelled out of the door.   
"Okie Dokie, I'll come up now." she yelled back. I could hear each individual step walking up the oak wood stairs. My heart started to pound, I could feel myself breaking into sweat. Liam look at me and tilted his head to the side like a little puppy.  
"You ok? I can sense your nervousness. If you don't want to do this don't do it." he worried.  
"Huh? What? Oh no, I'm fine, I have to do this." I panted. He placed his hand on my back and started to squeeze my shoulder.   
"You'll be fine okay. Deep breaths, relax and stay calm" he reassured.

The door creaked open and my mum appeared from the darkness. She had a great big smile on her face, her dimples were really visible. "Oh you brought a friend!" she says cheerfully. "Does he want to stay for dinner?"   
"If that's alright with you, I'd be happy to stay!" Liam chuckled.  
"Wait mum, something important to tell you." I said. I took in a deep breath and exhaled, trying to calm myself down.   
"How's it going?" she asks.  
"Well... You know when I was a kid, you'd always read these books about mythological creatures and legends?"   
"Yeah..." she slurred. She started to scrunch up her eyebrows trying to guess what I'm going to say later.   
"Well... Werewolves are real, and I'm one of them." I said hesitantly.  _How do you tell someone that you're a werewolf?_  She started to laugh and looked at Liam.   
"What have you given him?" she said trying to contain the laughter.   
"He's not joking..." he said shaking his head. Her laughter stopped, face blank and expressionless. She looked down onto the ground, started to twiddle her fingers and shift her jaw from side to side finally stopping to bite her upper lip.   
"What... Umm.. What do you mean my son's not joking..." she gulped.   
"Well, Ryland can't exactly show you because he might kill you but here, let me explain, or let's make it easy, let me show you." Liam explained. He closed his eyes for a second, opening them back up to reveal a golden glare, he started to shift his jaw and opened his mouth to expose four fangs along with opening up his fist to reveal a set of claws. I looked back at my mum just as she closed her mouth. Her lips slowly curled upwards into a smile. I looked at her, forehead furrowed with the side of my lip turning down on one end.  
"You're not shocked?" I questioned. I was shocked with her reaction, I didn't expect it to be like this. She started to laugh.   
"No not at all!" she answered as Liam slowly turned back to his normal self. "I'm a bit shocked at how you're a werewolf, but I'm not shocked by the idea of werewolves."  
"But then how did you know about us?" Liam asked.   
"Well, I have a friend who lives here, Alan Deaton? The name ring a bell?" she guessed. Liam's face lit up. I turned to look at him all dazed and confused. "Well, he's a druid and I've known him for many years, we used to be very close back in the years but we haven't seen each other ever since he went to vet school and I went to law school." she turned to face me. "Before we moved here, I gave Alan a call to ask him how were things after which he told me about you guys. By my guess you're Liam?..." she assumed.   
"That's me all right!" he said cheerfully.   
"Now you on the other hand, what I want to know is why you were bit." I looked at Liam and looked back at my mum. Before I could open my mouth Liam started to talk.   
"Well, long story short, Ryland was kidnapped by the Knight Hunters, and they asked him if he knew of us and who we were, we came in and fought with the hunters where Scott accidentally stabs Ryland and nearly kills him, the only way we could save him was to give him the bite, and here were are!" he said cheerfully. My mum's jaw dropped, and her eyes bulged, as if they were about to pop.   
"I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear anything regarding a kidnapping apart from where my son was bit and now he's a werewolf. So Liam. Steak alright with you?"   
"My favourite! Thank you so much Mrs. Calix."   
"Amanda, please. Or mum, considering you're the brother of my son now." she chuckled. She gave us a wink and left the room. I turned to look at Liam. I wasn't sure what to think.  _She's so chill about it._  I started to smile which ended up with both of us laughing.   
"Well that went well haha!" I laughed. We finished our Hot Cocoa's and lied down on the bed with Liam beside me. He put his arm around my back and started to shake me.  
"Well then big man. How do you feel?" he joked.  
"Haha, really laid-back actually. I feel good" I said. "Never felt better. But there is something I want to get off my chest first."  
"Yeah sure, what is it?"   
"Well, I kinda just want to apologize for being an a**hat earlier, I didn't mean to push you away, I was just really shocked and startled about being a werewolf, something I've never expected to ever happen in my life. It was such a drastic change and..--"   
"Okay okay okay please stop! he interrupted. "You don't have to apologize, trust me, I had the exact same reaction, I pushed my friends away and it was horrible, but I was lucky that Scott never left me, because if he did, I wouldn't be here to be your friend, I'd be dead. He saved my life, and I'd never forget that." he pleaded. He rolled over to give me a hug, a nice, fuzzy, heartwarming hug.  
"Well, then, is dinner still up?" I asked when I remembered the text he sent me when I was in the hospital.  
"Of course. Your mum's cooking!" he joked. I punched him on his arm. "I'm kidding I'm kidding haha. Yeah, some other time, it'll be a date."   
I cracked a smile. "I'd love that."  _A date? On the second day of school? Good god._  
"Come on down boys, dinner's ready!" my mum yelled from downstairs.   
"Coming mum!" Liam yelled. We both started to laugh as we got off the bed. I shoved him back down as I rushed down the stairs. I absolutely loved steak and with my mum's special gravy, it's one you'd never want to miss. It smelt amazing, you could smell the gravy filling up the room, it was mouthwatering. 

Dinner was enjoyable, my mum didn't stop asking Liam questions about Beacon Hills though. Not so much the supernatural, but more on what was life like in Beacon Hills. School, teachers and so on. We just finished dinner, plates were cleared up and my mum brought out some cookies.   
"Thank you so much for dinner Amanda, I think I should be going now?" he asked.  
"You can stay the night if you'd like, Ryland's bed is big enough for three!" she laughed. Liam turns to look at me nudges me with his shoulder.  
"Yeah sure! That'd be awesome! Thanks!" he chuckled. He grabbed a cookie and took a bite. "Oh my god!" he said as crumbs fell out of this mouth. "This is really good! I haven't had such great cookies in such a long long time! They're chocolate chip right?"  
"Yup! Grandma's recipe! she chuckled. My mum's really proud of her cooking, and she should be, she's amazing at it, everything she makes is delicious, from the basic things like soup all the way to complicated dishes such as beef wellington. She's practically the all-round super mum and I'm super super lucky to have her. If not, I wouldn't have such great food every night! Nah I'm kidding, it's not just the amazing food, but to be honest it is pretty amazing.   
"Ryland, Liam, do you want an extra cookie?" she asked. Liam walked back towards the table to grab three.   
"One for Ryland and two for me! Thank you!!" he giggled. She laughed back at us and took the plate back into the kitchen. Liam passed me the cookie and we turned around, starting to head up the stairs towards my room. I started to chew on the soft cookie as Liam just gobbled it down.   
"Do you want mine as well?" I mocked. He stared at me with puppy eyes and I shoved the cookie into his mouth. I smirked and opened the door to my room. "Oh by the way Liam, if you need any clothes, just get the from the drawer, we're very similar in body type so I don't see why they won't fit." He smiled back at me, still with a mouthful of cookies, he looked like a hamster stuffing as much food as he could into his cheeks during hibernation season, it was hilarious. He opened the top drawer and pulled out some boxers and a shirt and threw them onto the bed. I got my clothes from under my pillow and started to change. He closed the drawer and walked over, stopping dead in his tracks.  
"Ryland... You don't have to answer but why are there massive scars on your back?" he asked with a concerning tone. I instantly threw on my t-shirt and turns around with my mouth slightly parted.  
"Ummm... Well, my dad, when he was alive was an alcoholic and he used to whip me a lot with his belt every time he got drunk. So that's how I got these scars.." I said reluctantly.   
"Oh my god I, didn't mean to, I'm sorry.." he said ruffling his hair with his hand. He pulled off his shirt and shorts and slipped on the ones that were on the bed. I closed my eyes for a second, trying to suppress the memory of my dad, that was really the only memory I have of him, and it wasn't even a good memory. I let out a sigh and changed my shorts, throwing the dirty clothes into a basket in the corner of my room. "You're not fine aren't you.." he pestered.   
"No it's okay, I'm fine, really." I said as my voice cracked.   
"Stop lying to me, I can tell when you're lying. Your heart rate changes, don't think I don't notice the little things." he protested.  
"Ugh. Don't do that, I just, that's the only proper memory I have of my dad, and it's horrible to think that the only memory I have of him is bad." I confessed. "After his death I've spent a lot of time suppressing these memories and I'm just trying to do the same now." I started to sob,   
He extended his arms and pulled me towards him giving me the biggest hug I've ever had. He pulled me in so tightly, I could feel his heart, his warmth, and in some way, his emotions, his happiness was transferred to me. I took a few deep breaths, trying to slow down my heart rate and regulate my breathing. I lowered my head onto his shoulder and wrapped my arms around his waist, holding on to my own wrists to stop my own grasp from breaking apart. My nerves just slowly disappeared, he turned his head to give me a light peck on the cheek. "Better?" he whispered. I nodded my head and loosened my grasp as he did to. He grabbed both my hands and focused on my eyes. "You don't need to hide things anymore okay? We're a family now and I'm always here for you. Please please please never forget that."  
I tightened my lips as the curled up slightly. I released my right hand and wiped my eyes, I could feel them watering as I grabbed hold of his hand again. We started to swing our hands from side to side, I swallowed my nerves, chuckled a bit and and let go of his hands. "Thank you Liam." I whispered. He pulled out a chair and took a seat by my desk. He starting looking around my table when a photo caught his eye.   
"Look what we've got here. Who's this?" he asked. My face went red with embarrassment.   
"You really have a keen eye don't you." I laughed. "That's Aleks, the guy I dated back in Island?"   
"That's Aleks? You guys were so cute!" he squealed. "Do you still talk to him?" he chuckled.  _Omg why is he this interested._  
"Nah, we don't talk as much as we used to. I did plan on visiting him once, Hong Kong seems like an amazing place to visit."  
"Aww that's adorable, and yeah, Hong Kong is pretty cool, we went there, with the lacrosse team, we had a game against the Hong Kong Team. They're pretty darn good! But little did they know we had something supernatural to back us up haha."   
"That's cool. It's like all skyscrapers and stuff right?"   
"Yup, high rise buildings, lots of cars and a lot of people."   
"I still remember him telling me how everything is so fast paced there, when we were back in Island High, the lifestyle there was so much slower and relaxing."   
"Oh I didn't really notice that haha! We didn't spend much time there, we had our game, one day to chill and a flight back to California. Wait wait, enough of Hong Kong. Tell me about him! I really want to know." he urged. Well I tried to change the subject, which didn't really work. I just laughed at him.   
"God, you're so nosy." I moaned. "What do you want to know about him?"   
"Well, what's he like?"   
"Funny story, sometimes you remind me of him, a little shy, really sweet and kinda cute!" I blushed. "He likes to make stupid puns, and most of the time he's quite clumsy. He always seems closed off but when you get to know him, he's awesome. He's really sarcastic, oh god, and he's really really smart, spending a lot of time alone, even when something's wrong. He's really easily distracted, so I tend not to bother him when he's revising or working, but when he starts to work, he gets these bursts of energy, and is all zoom zoom, gonna finish everything."   
"Are you just describing Stiles?"  
"What? Stiles is like that as well? He doesn't seem like it at all." I laughed.   
"Yeah, let's introduce you at school tomorrow. For now I want to get some sleep. Today was an, interesting day." he chuckled. I grabbed him by the back of the shirt and swung him onto the bed.   
"Do you want the right or the left?" I asked. He rolled over the the right side of the bed and slipped under the covers. I took pulled out a carton of apple juice from my drawers and offered one to Liam.   
"I'm good thanks." he said as he was getting comfortable. I stabbed the straw into the carton and started to sip on the juice. I took a seat on the chair and noticed Liam staring at me. I shrugged my shoulders and turned my head slightly to see if he was staring at me.   
"Something wrong?" I asked.   
"Nothing, just admiring the view." he chuckled. I rolled my eyes and threw the empty carton at him. "Now the views spoiled." he laughed. He threw it back towards me, as I caught it and dumped it into the trash can behind me. I walked up towards the bed and climbed in beside him, slipping underneath the duvet as I did so. I reached my arm to the side of the bed and flicked off the light switch. I got comfortable and turned to look at Liam to say good night.   
"AHHHH" I shrieked. I saw two bright yellow eyes staring back at me. "Jesus Christ! Don't do that!" I panted. Liam started to laugh uncontrollably as the glow slowly faded. I kicked him in the leg and shook my head.   
"Good night Ryland." he choked, trying as hard as he could to keep the laughter down.   
"Good night meanie." I said. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

My eyes parted to the sound of sizzling of the frying pan in the kitchen downstairs.  _Wait what... Is that how far I can hear?_ "Wow!" I whispered to myself. I turned to look over and Liam was still fast asleep, his head burrowed into the pillow with one leg sticking out from under the duvet. I chuckled to myself and got out of bed walking towards the drawers at the other end of the room. I grabbed a shirt, shorts and a pair of socks and got changed for school. Grabbed my books from my cabinet and shoved them into my shoulder bag along with my laptop and charger. I knocked on the table to see if Liam would wake up from his slumber, sadly, he didn't even twitch. A brilliant idea shot through my mind, I jumped up on the bed and fell onto him, slamming myself onto his back as hard as I could. I heard a yelp as he shoved me off him, rolling onto the other end of the bed.

"Ouch" he squealed. "I'm up, what's up.." he said dazed and confused.   
"Yeah... We kind of have school. Just so you know..." I laughed.   
He smacked his lips. "Riiiiight." he mocked. "Good night"   
"Oh my god, stop being so lazy, get up." as I rolled off the bed. "Smell the bacon Liam. Smell it." I provoked. I could hear sniffing in the background as I picked up the pillow from the ground. I was just in the process of turning around when Liam jumped onto my back.   
"Onwards Calix! To Baconville!" he yelled. I rolled my eyes and walked out of the room reluctantly, grabbing on to his butt to stop him from sliding off me. We walked down the stairs, little did I remember that with Liam on my shoulders, he would smack his head on the top floor. Before I knew it, there was a thud and I lost my balance, both of us fell down onto the steps with a massive crash. My mum ran up to us, looked confused for a second and started to laugh uncontrollably. I stood up slowly rubbing my back as Liam grabbed on to my shorts pulling himself up.   
"You guys fix yourselves up, I'm going to plate up breakfast for you both." she laughed. I nodded and turned to look at Liam.  _Oh no!_  His forehead has a massive slit. I reached up to rub around the cut, he hissed and pulled his head back. I sat him back down.   
"Dude, how are you going to go to school?" I asked. I started to panic, this was horrible! I ran upstairs to grab a bandage for his head. I opened the drawers in the toilet and started to search for a bandage and some alcohol wipes. I rummaged through the cabinets, the drawers until I found some spare gauze and the bottle of alcohol.  _I really should clean up my washroom, it's impossible to find anything._  I grabbed the items and walked down the stairs. I grabbed Liam by the chin and and tilted his face towards mine.  _What... The cut... It's gone... But... How?_  He could see the confusion on my face as he started to giggle.   
"Little known secret to us werewolves, we heal really quickly." he laughed.   
"Well, you could have told me earlier?" I scoffed. He winked and stood up.   
"Didn't you notice that your back stopped hurting in a tiny while?"   
"Oh.. I didn't notice. I was too busy looking for a gauze and alcohol." He started to blush. He grabbed my hand and we walked over to the table. My mum saw us from inside the kitchen and she smiled. I genuinely haven't seen her smile that nicely in a long time, the last time she had a smile like that was when I was together with Aleks. We sat down at the table and had our breakfast. Bacon, eggs, toast and orange juice.  _Looks and smells amazing!_  
"This looks great Amanda!" Liam praised. "I can't wait!"   
"Don't wait up for me! Dig in!" she yelled from inside the kitchen. Liam drew up a massive smile and stabbed a stack of bacon with his fork. The smell of coffee started to fill the air as my mum walked out with her mug in hand.   
"Are you wearing that to school Liam? Boxers and a shirt?" she mocked. Liam looked down onto his boxers and started to giggle.   
"Maybe I am." he laughed. The chair screeched on the floor and he pushed back and ran up the stairs. My mum sat down on the table and started to have her breakfast smiling at me as she did so.  
"Found a new guy Ryland?" she teased. I started to blush and smile back at her.   
"Rude. Haha!" I laughed.  
I could hear the drawers slam shut as he zipped up his pants.  _It's amazing how much werewolves can hear. Bit creepy too..._  He walks down the stairs with his bag slung on his back, he placed the bag by the door and came over to finish his breakfast.   
"Oh dude, take your time, the bus doesn't reach the main road for another ten minutes and it's a five minute walk to the main road." I smiled. Once again he smiled with a mouth full of food and swallowed what he had in his mouth with a massive gulp. He gave me a thumbs up and turned to face my mum.  
"Thanks Amanda for the breakfast! It was really good! Haven't had crispy bacon in so long!" he said gleefully. She clicked her tongue and gave him a wink. He grabbed his bag from the ground and opened the door. We walked down the path towards the main road below.   
"Well that was fun. Thanks for having me Ryland!" he said. I turned around to give him a hug.   
"Haha! Don't mention it! Come over whenever you want. I've had so much fun hanging out with you. You're like a brother to me!" I giggled. His face went blank for a second and he blinked so much faster than usual. "You okay?" I asked. He didn't respond for a second but he turned back to look at me.   
"Ummm.. Yeah. I'm fine!" he said. His heartbeat was racing, I knew something was up. He just didn't want to tell me. I didn't know what went through my mind, it was impulsive but I gave him a peck on the cheek. His eyes shot wide open and his face went red. He turned back to look at me and his lovely smile appeared, his heart rate stabilized.  _Yup, that worked. Gosh he has really soft cheeks._  We reached the main road just in time for the bus to arrive. We boarded and walked towards the end of the bus and sat down on the back seat for the journey to school. The bus was relatively quiet, not many people take this bus, since barely anyone lives within my area.

We got off the bus and parted ways as we went for our first lessons. "I'll see you at our free Liam?" I asked.   
"Yup! Meet me by the massive tree, there's a table and the gang and I always hang out over there, and another thing, don't forget that our first proper game is today! Be ready and don't be late!" he yelled back as he walked, face first, straight into the door, loosing balance and falling on his backside. I fell onto the ground laughing as he stood back up rubbing his head. He squinted his eyes at me and opened the door as he walked into the building. I picked myself up from the ground and headed towards my next lesson, economics with the beloved coach. I walked into the room sat down and looked around the classroom to see if I could find anyone I knew.  _Ugh I'm alone..._  I grabbed the books from my bag as coached walked into the room. He was really happy to see me, I would say a bit too happy to see me.   
"Ryland! How's your back?! I heard you went into the hospital the day before." he asked as he walked up close to me.   
"Oh yeah! It's much better now, it has stopped hurting so that's a plus right?" I laughed. He reached my table and leaned over.   
"Oh that's good to hear! Do you think you can play? I've placed you as a midfielder for now but if you want to be an attacker feel free. You score amazing goals and it would be amazing for you to be an attacker." I was so shocked. Coach was reminding me so much of my old coach back at Island. I felt amazing!  
"Oh wow yeah! Sure! I'd be happy to be your attacker! Who are the other two attackers then?"   
"Awesome, I'll put you down as an attacker! Liam and Scott, they're the other two attackers." He stood back up, pat me on the back and walked back towards his table to start the class. "Okay so, who can define macroeconomics?" The kid to my right shot his hand straight up. "Jayke?"  
"It's essentially the branch of economics looking into large-scare or general economic factors. Stuff such as interest rates and national productivity." Jayke said confidently.   
"Nice work Jayke. I see you've been revising." Coach praised....

The lesson ended unexpectedly with coach screaming and me waking up instantly. "Jayke! You've been texting ever since the beginning of the class! I expected so much more from you. Class is over, get out!" he yelled. His face was fuming, red, it was as if smoke was going to shoot from his ears.  _What happened when I was asleep?_  Jayke ran out of the room as I packed my things back into my bag. Everyone seemed so rushed. I slung the bag back on my back and walked towards the door.   
"Bye Coach. I'll see you at the game later!" I smiled. He ignored me, his nose was in his phone, face still red as a tomato about to burst. I decided to just leave the classroom, didn't want to piss him off anymore. I walked out of the room and down the corridor towards the main door. I swung open the large main doors out of the school, it was such a beautiful day today, the sun was shining really brightly and there was a slight breeze. It was really comfortable, and really relaxing. Loved it. I strolled over to the massive tree to bump into Stiles on the way there.   
"Oh sorry, didn't see you there. Oh wait. Oh hey Ryland! It's you!" he said sheepishly.  _God damn he reminds me so much of Aleks._  
"Oh hey Stiles, don't worry about it." I chuckled. "What's new?"   
"Oh nothing much really. You're now a werewolf, first game of the season, you're going to change. Pretty normal if I say so myself."   
"Wait what? Change? What why?"   
"Well, like all new werewolves and lacrosse, you're going to get angry, then we're going to have to pull you out before you go on a rampage and kill all of us." he said with a smile.  _A smile? What?_  "Don't worry about it, happens all the time.."   
"It's happened before?"   
"Well yeah... It would explain how chill I am about it wouldn't it? It started off with Scott, Jackson, Isaac, Liam, and eventually you!" We reached the table with my face white as snow. Liam looked at me and signaled me to come over, I snapped out of my trance, shook it off and walked over to him.  _I'm going to change? In the middle of the game?_ _Oh please no!_.   
"Well, okay everyone, you probably already know him but this is Ryland, our new Beta!" Liam introduced me to the group.   
"Hiii!" squealed Kira. "It's nice to see you back!" she giggled.   
"Yeah dude, it's good to see you back!" Scott said. "How's the back? Sorry again haha."   
"Oh it's much better now haha thanks!" I laughed. "Scott, I've got to ask, Stiles told me how I was going to change in the middle of the game and I was wondering if you could teach me how to control it before I got onto the pitch tonight?" Scott was in the process of opening his mouth to answer me when he's interruped by Stiles.   
"No." he said sternly, he had a really serious look on his face.   
"Wait, what do you mean no?" I asked.   
"I mean no. Do you want to hear it in French? Non!" he mocked. I opened my mouth slightly and tilted my head to the side, eyebrows scrunched slightly. Lydia jumped in to explain.   
"What I think Stiles here is trying to say is that we can't teach you now, not in this environment. If you want to learn we've got to take you either to the vault or somewhere secluded, away from everything. That way we can control you a bit better, without anyone seeying you." she said.   
"Oooh.. That makes sense thanks." I thanked her.   
"Anyway, tell us about youself Ryland." Kira asked, all excited and jittery.   
"Well, I moved here from Island High with my mum Amanda. Erm... I really really like to read and play lacrosse I suppose." I smirked. They all smiled back at me, Stiles included. His smile really reminded me of Aleks, he didn't look like Aleks, but his personality, the way he acted, it was spot on.   
"Oh by the way Ryland, I've got your keys and phone which you left in the hospital from when you were kidnapped. My mum grabbed hold of it when she left work." Scott said as he passed me my things.   
"Thanks!" I smiled.   
We had a great time during our free, we learnt so much about each other, well I did at least. They're a really good group of friends, and I'm so happy i'm a part of their 'pack'.  _High school isn't going to be that bad I guess._  It was going to be a great year. 

The day shot by but came to a halt at our game. I was getting changed into my gear in the locker room when Coach jumps onto the bench to make his speech. "Well, I don't need to say much. Just get out there and win our first game. Never give up, never give in, and when the upper hand is ours, may we have the ability to handle the win with the dignitiy that we absorbed the loss. Let's go team!" he yelled.   
"Umm Coach? Did you just steal that from Doug Williams?" Jayke asked.   
"Shut it and get changed Jayke" he snarled. Coach jumped off the bench and back into his office. Liam walks up to me and taps my helmet with his crosse.   
"You ready? We're in the front, Scott, you and I. We're going to be the strongest group of attackers this school will ever see." he hinted. Not going to lie, I was nervous.   
"I guess? I'm just really worried about what Stiles said earlier today, I don't want to lose control."   
"Psshhh. Don't worry about it, Scott and I know how to deal with this. We'll take care of you." he assured. It didn't really calm me down, I was still nervous about whatever that's going to happen next. I've turned once, and not being able to control my urges was horrible, I didn't want to experience that again. We walked out onto the pitch, the bright lights shining onto us. I turned to face the crowed, there were sitting on the bleachers on the grass. I looked around for my mum but she was nowhere to be seen. My lip slanted down to one end and I got into position with Liam further forwards. I was terrified, and I'm very rarely terrified.  _  
_

_Deep breaths, calm down, breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out. You got this Ryland. Game on._

_  
_The whistle blew.


End file.
